Moist Candles
by Jeccelo
Summary: The last few chapters of Earth go a little differently. It IS a Zutara fanfic but it's Book 3's story too. It will have a sequel called Fire Oasis. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Heat

MOIST CANDLES

by Jeccelo

_Dai Lee Agent report:_

_Ba Sing Se, summer. Shortly after the release of Jet, prisoner of the Dai Lee. Jet's health: Superior. Location: Varies. Associates: Unknown. The Dai Lee will soon make effort to confirm this detail. Long Feng remains in power. _

_Four on the afternoon hour. Tea shop on street Iankashu._

_To my nephew, Lee,_

_I have left to shop for herbs. Jin will be over soon. Try to put on a good face for her, will you?_

_Iroh_

1

The sun had scorched the city until it seemed everyone but the young man was evaporating from the sandy streets. He stood leaning at a post underneath a tarp at the end of a shop, where in it's shade sauntered a small sitting area for geezers and shogi matches. From under his jagged black bangs dampened with sweat, twinkling black eyes could survey passerbys, answering their sloppy, tired steps and shifting images behind mirages with a quiet smirk.

But Jet was not alone where he stood. The sixteen-year-old woman beside him was quite disgruntled, her brow furrowed in annoyance, a puckered grimace twisting otherwise lovely lips. The black hair jutted up on the top of her head reached Jet's shoulder, and the way she stood erect before him, he more deeply obscured in the shadows of the tarp, gave the impression of an assassin of considerable defiance lurking in the shady nooks of the city with her teen bodyguard loyal at her shoulder. Her arms and his legs crossed, silent as the image they portrayed, they waited.

Jet casually shifted the twig of grass from the clench bewixt his teeth to a softer grip in his lips and let out a sigh, the leaf trembling as his breath skimmed across it. The noise brought voice to the young woman, Kioki's, impatience.

"Three hours now," she hissed. "_Three hours!_ And yet not one sign of them."  
"They'll be out," he promised lamely. "They have to eat, don't they?"

"Yes, but most people don't dine until the evening!" She let out a huff of anger that turned the ear of a nearby shigo player. Catching it in her awareness, she lowered her voice.

"I just thought they'd be a little more brief, that's all."

"You've snooped around them for a week," Jet said. "Give it a rest. They're developing-- it's a little something couples do."

"_Don't_ start."

"Lecture adjured, then. Now _please_, let's go find Tyc."

"Not until they come out! This is my sister and her mysterious boyfriend we're talking about here!"

"Oooh, I'd hate to be swept up in _that_ drama," Jet droned, molten sarcasm oozing from his lips in the heat. "Especially with you involved."

"Please. Once we just get a hold of them, it's going to be totally painless. I gave you my word on that eons ago."

They waited. Twenty more minutes passed, Jet's interest now enfolded in the heated game of shogi at his right. The green door to the tea shop across the street moved to admit no one she found valuable. Her hands fisted and a snarled growl escaped her.

"She's so infatuated with that stupid boy-- Who knows how much longer she'll keep him imprisoned with her big mouth flapping like a loose pant leg!"

Jet chuckled and reached to stroke the girl's short-cropped hair with loving fingers.

"Your stress is making your hair spike."

"Oh, marvelous, another outlet for even _more_ stress. Honestly, Jet, I used to think you made my life easier."

"You really need to just come live with me. Permanently. I mean, how long have you been 'running away' from home? Three weeks?"

"If I could I'd run from this whole city. I'm surprised the whole world doesn't just collapse on it, it's so thick and boring."

Jet shook his head.

"All you have to do is live simple, like I do, and everything flows fine."

"That's _you_ talking."

"Just a thought. You _have_ dragged me into this, I hope you remember. I never really thought this was the most ingenious maneuver you've come up with."

"You're here to get the fruits of the labor without laboring," she said simply, shrugging. "As usual. No need to amend, I've gotten over it."

He only smiled, and swapped pillars to give his left shoulder a relief.

"I haven't seen your sister, have I?"  
"Luckily for your sanity. She's such a pussy catmouse. Seriously, I don't what the crazy boy sees in her."

Jet rolled his eyes.

"You say that about all girls but yourself."

"I don't like _any_ of them-- prissy little princesses so overly obsessed with themselves. It's sick!"

Jet grinned and slid a fibrous arm around her neck, nuzzling the spiky hair at her ear.

"I'm glad you think so. Good to know there's _something_ intelligent on the wind in this city."

She smirked and, in spite of herself, unwrapped his arm from under her chin.

"It was over between us before it began, kiddo."

"I was straightening your tunic," he said defensively, smiling and leaning back against the post again.

"Right. And slipping it off at the same time."  
"Hey!" He placed a hand behind his head. "I assure you, miss, my intentions were purely honorable."

His joke got little air with her.

"You let me know when you're serious about one thing in your life, and I'll consider your judgment of the 'straightness' of my tunic. Cool?"

"Well, then: goodbye, chance with Kioki."

She shook her exasperated smile away and reglazed her eyes in steel, staring at the door to the tea shop like a hawk on a hunt.

Minutes passed. The old man nearest Jet won the shogi match, congratulated by a droning cheer from his fellow geezers. Jet whistled at the old man's winning move.

And then, seen only by Kioki's stinging olive eyes, they left the tea shop. She saw her sister's grinning face, her excitement half pulling the pale boy she now dated down the sweltering streets, and hissed a celebration.

"_Yyeesss_! Jet!" She spoke in a fizzling whisper now, snatching up Jet's arm in a joyous grip and jerking him to her side.

"There she is, there he is, there they are!" She tugged at his sleeve to accentuate a beat in her words. He grabbed her wrist, forcing her stop.

"Okay, okay--"

They melted deeper into the darkness, observing Kioki's older sister begin speaking to the boy, who as he averted his gaze elsewhere, revealed the rose burn scar across his eye.

Jet inhaled through his teeth, wincing. "Ouch."

Kioki snorted.

"My sister has yet another sucker victim to her clutches."

"How do you think he got that scar?"

"Doesn't matter. All we need to know now is that he can give us fire. _Unique_ fire. And we're getting to him through _her_."

"I told you this plan was crazy before," Jet said, studying Jin's chattering mouth, "but I'm actually starting to believe this'll work."

"Of course it'll work," Kioki whispered exictedly. Jet continued to watch the girl, taking amusement and slight attraction at her exuberant eyes, her beaming face, her unfettered hair leaping in response to her movements.

"She doesn't look so bad," he muttered, and after a moment longer, added, "She doesn't look so bad at all."

"Heh. You live the very law of 'looks are deceiving'. I expected more, Jet."

She looked up at him, studying his dark complexion, shimmering eyes, delicate lips lined in a smirk... an attractive face of seventeen, one she had often considered falling for.

"But actually, yours aren't as deceiving as most," she said, catching his gaze. "You're pretty much jell-O inside, jell-O outside."  
"Meaning?" He asked, his eyes jumping back to Kioki's sister.

"Cool and flexible and as lazy as the Fire Lord. Let's go."

And like wraiths they shifted invisibly into the crowed streets as mere wisps of dust carried with the breeze.


	2. Chapter 2: Grit

2

It was truly amazing that Toph could actually "sense" her way through the packed streets, let alone grab at Aang's shirt every now and then to jerk him out of the path of some approaching man with a belly big enough to send Aang tumbling back into the alleyways. The men of Ba Sing Se were big enough, and the women were a little taller than average, them being earthbenders, no doubt, and so Toph and Aang were profoundly dwarfed, just two stray cats scampering between the knees of gigantic earthbenders, greeted by a grunt of annoyance or surprise every now and then.

Aang would assume, knowing Toph, that she would get severely sick of it, but her face remained calm as ever, almost bored, as she maneuvered her way through the heated muscles of bodies, saving Aang once more from being back-bellied into the sand, and stopped before an outlet into a long, empty alley.

"This'll do," Toph said casually, and lightly made her way to the farther end, leaving Aang at the entrance.

"Stance," Toph commanded. Aang readied himself, his eyes drifting skeptically about their surroundings... And in _how_ much disarray would they leave this place once finished with a daily dose of practicing?

"Are you sure?" Aang called. "It's..."  
"It's what?" Toph snapped.

"Just... a little tight, that's all."

A thoughtful finger went to Toph's chin.

"You know, you're right."

Aang realized what she was doing but was too late to take back anything- Toph leapt at one wall, slamming her fists deep into it's rock like clay. Aang winced as he watched by Toph's impact the wall slide ten or so feet to the right, a cloud of dust erupting at it's base. The dust was sucked away instantly, as he predicted, and he turned non enthusiastically back to Toph, who was lightly brushing at her tunic.

"Okay. That better for you, Twinkle Toes?"  
Aang followed the wall's length, watched it teeter a little, and decided eleven more feet was better than nothing.

"Sure, Toph. Are you certain that didn't hurt anyone?"

"Enough. Would you prefer me to hurt someone?" She picked at her nails placidly.

"Uh, no--" Aang said quickly, straightening his stance. "That'll be fine."  
"All right, then." Toph readied her own stance, but then stopped.

"Oh, hold on."

Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew a red band, and the minute Aang recognized it, he felt his stomach sink.

"Ah, ah," Toph chided, starting a walk towards him. "You're thinking airy again."

She jumped the rest of the distance with the help of a steeple of rock jutted from the earth by her fist. Landing before him, she knocked hard at his head.

"Get the air out of your head, Twinkles," she nagged as he rubbed painfully at his brow. "Play hard or go home."

"I got it, Toph," Aang muttered, still wincing. Her face relaxed, a signal of satisfaction, and she fluently tied the red band over his eyes. He dared a sigh as his vision was sucked up in red. She pounded a finger hard into his chest.

"Air. _Out_." Cracking her knuckles, she turned and made her way back to the other end of the alley.

"And one more thing," she called, taking her stance. "There's people passing behind you, incase you haven't noticed-- which apparently you haven't, due to mine having to save you from squashment a dozen or so times-- so knowing that, you might want to make sure to keep all debris inside the alley. Okay, Twinkles?"

He sighed again. "Got it."

He didn't even hear it coming, but it came. His airbender senses bristled as he felt the boulder's colossal body hurling straight for him, screaming he lift off and run, but he knew better now. Gritting his teeth, he sent his knuckles straight into it's heart, listening and feeling it's chunks crumble around him.

Another. And another. And another. They whistled somewhat on the air with Toph's precision, her speed of command. He obliterated them as cleanly as the first, and when that was over, he knew that was only level one.

Listening, feeling, he watched in his mind as the palm of Toph's foot slowly caressed the dirt, and with flexed fingers she drew from the earth a wall of solid rock, parallel with the two walls at their sides, just as tall, just as wide. Her fist hit it's end and it sailed through the ground towards him. A second later she had bent a second wall, same of proportions but it's face now directed forward, and as it too was slid towards Aang, it's edges screeched against the alley walls.

Aang jump to allow his feet the pleasure of cleaving the first wall into two, then as he landed, spun about his heels-- daring an airbending move-- and let his up-drawn chest shatter the next.

The attacks came swifter after that one-- new moves, more abstract, ones that made Aang wonder how much time Toph had spent devising them. She turned the sand beneath their feet to churning waves, brought the very walls of the alley down on top of him; a hundred little things, all brisk but perfectly synced in a time pattern, all outrageous but brilliantly effective. In ten minutes or so Toph relaxed to catapulting debris with her heels, opening the earth between his feet, forcing him to draw a platform from below to catch himself and secure a barrier from the debris in the split seconds of his consciousness.

This kind of training made Aang wonder what the use-- if he was to ultimately fight the Fire Lord, techniques of earth defense seemed waned in relevance, right? He should be learning all these amazing attacks, learning to think as briskly as his master, studying her pattern of devising. But he didn't have much time to dwell on the thought; a few closing attacks sounded through the alleyway like fireworks and when silence loomed for a couple seconds, Aang knew Toph was done.

Settling, he removed the blindfold-- only to see a gigantic boulder slowly consuming his sight.

"Heads up, Twinkle Toes!" Toph bellowed, and Aang cried out as he jumped feebly into action, barely having time to lift his fist and shatter the rock.

As soon as the debris had lifted, he grimaced. "What was that for?"

She leapt towards him again, this time from the entire length of the alley. He glaring, sweating face was pressed right up against his nose and he suddenly felt like the weakest bug on the planet.

"It's never done until I say so, Airhead! Take off that blindfold once without my consent, and you'll have the bruise the size of your face to keep you company for a month. Got it?"

She accentuated this last remark with a hard shove in the chest. He stumbled, catching himself on the wall before he could be sent into the streets and trampled.

"Okay, okay, I got it--" He steadied himself. "Sorry, Toph."

She shrugged. "Hey, not like I didn't enjoy it. C'mon. You've done good, air pupil."

"I have?" He followed her into the streets.

"Sure you have," she said. "Just remember to earthbend next time."

"Hey!" He smiled in spite of himself. "I put up a pretty good fight against you!"

"Yeah," she agreed, "when i'm dozing."

He was ready with a retort but she cut him off with a firm arm slapped across his chest. She stood poised like a cat, her blank eyes sharp in a glare, her body as tense and solid as the stone she commanded.

"Wait..." she murmured. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?" He couldn't possibly see how she could zero in on one sound when the whole street was alive with human activity, but somehow she had. He stretched out his earthbending senses, trying to locate the disturbance.

"Earthbending," she said. "But... _good _earthbending."

Aang was shocked. It was the first time he had ever heard her admit to someone else's earthbending as being well. He focused as hard as he could, and caught a small whiff of seismic motion.

"That way," Toph said, her voice hushed and urgent, her finger extended in the direction of the back slums of the city.

She set off at a run, and it was all he could do to keep up with her.

Kaz sat up against the soft stone, her eyes slowly fluttering shut, her dark skin beginning to disappear into the shadow in which she lay. The sounds of occasional rumbling and crumbling were starting to be less and less annoying, and after a while she had completely forgotten they were there.

To her right, in the empty sand, in the shade of where the rear wall of Ba Sing Se loomed, Tyc's small, stocky figure and Yurgo's scrawny height moved in her peripheral vision as pale shapes jumping and dancing in a hailstorm of earth. She closed her eyes, and listened to Yurgo's grunt of effort as he took Tyc's instructing words into his actions and attempted to hurl a boulder. The sound of splattering debris told Kaz Tyc had deflected it easily.

"Good!" Tyc exclaimed. "Awesome. You've almost got it."

"Yeah?" Yurgo panted, a smile in his voice. "Well... I dunno. I'm a little lanky for earthbending."

"Nah, earthbending's got nothing to do with the structure of your body. It's just how you hold it. Attacking a rock isn't easy-- you still have lots of strength to develop. Remember, you were born this way. You have this gift. And you have the attitude- believe me, I know."

Yurgo chuckled nervously. "I, uh... told you I was sorry about that last hit, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Tyc said, chuckling a bit himself. "I've never been hit like that before! It was really amazing!"

Yurgo laughed. "Well... we'll see how I am in a year or so."

"Maybe even less than that," Tyc said brightly. "Who knows?"

"Hey Tyc!" Kaz called. She opened her eyes to see the two boys turn.

"Yeah?"

Kaz grinned in the small boy's direction. "How about I give it a go. Hm?"

"Heh." Tyc placed little hands on his hips. "If you're feeling up to it."

"Ohhhh yes." Kaz raised herself to her feet, and as she emerged into the hot sun, her dark brown shin shimmered copper.

"You just gonna use that wimpy spear?" Yurgo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No need to be unimpressed," Kaz replied, holding up a hand. "I may not be a bender, but I've stood before Tyc many times. _And_ I've got something new this time."

"Oh yeah?" Tyc grinned. "Let's see it. Is is stone-proof?"

"Yep," Kaz said, reaching into her belt. The two boys blinked in surprise.

"Nuh-uh," Yurgo persisted. "Nothing's stone-proof. Tyc was joking."  
"_This_ is." And from her belt, Kaz withdrew the weapon. Tyc and Yurgo approached her to get a better look.

At a first glance, the object in her hands was a tall dagger or a short sword, it was hard to tell. But the end was smoothed over, curved, and tucked in the pocket of the curved blade was a small, spheric stone. Kaz gripped it by the handle and lifted the strange blade, brandishing it gleefully before her dark face. The sun caught it's ridges, sliding down it's middle and sending a flash into the boys' eyes.

"What is it?" Tyc asked, his hand moving as if to touch it, but then drawing back.

"It's got weird markings on it," Yurgo said, daring to stroke it's hilt. "Looks like water symbols, or something."

"It's from a water tribe?" Tyc said, excitement growing in his voice. He extended a hand. Kaz placed the blade in his pudgy fingers.

Carefully he felt each ridge, each edge, turning it over in sensible fingers, using earthbending techniques to uncover it's mysteries. After a moment he handed it back to Kaz.

"I've never felt anything like it."

"Watch this," Kaz said, her eyes sparkling wickedly. She motioned for the boys to step back. Yurgo placed a hand on Tyc's shoulder. Wary of the new instrument, they gave her plenty of space.

Drawing her arm back, she flashed on more gleeful smile at her audience and then swung her arm forward-- and let go. The blade flew out of her hand, spinning beautifully, soaring forward and up.

"Woah..." Yurgo breathed. Tyc was silent.

The blade continued spinning, curving to turn it's path into and arch, and then dipped back down and spun straight for Kaz again. Yurgo gasped, watching it's sharp edge flash towards his friend--

But she caught it up in her hand by the hilt, a _whishing _sound coming to an abrupt halt as it was taken in her dark fingers. She straightened, and grinned pearl teeth at her companions.

"What _is_ that?" Yurgo asked, eyes wide with astonishment. Tyc nodded.

"It's a boomerang," Kaz proclaimed proudly. "I found it."

"You_ stole_ it, more likely," Yurgo retorted, snapped out of awe by this new information.

"Found," she shot back, her eyes narrowing, and then she looked at Tyc.

"Well? You think you can take this?"

"I dunno," the boy said, shaking his head.

"It spun up, around, and then came back to me," Kaz explained. "I doubt you've ever fought blades that can do that."

"Nope," Tyc said, shaking his head. But he suddenly fell silent, his brow furrowing in urgency.

"What's that?" he whispered. Yurgo and Kaz blinked.

"What?" Kaz asked.

"Shhh..." Tyc's head cocked, listening. His heel massaged the earth, his fingers tensing.

"Someone's coming," he said at last. "Quick, hide!"

"What if it's Jet?" Kaz said even as she ran with Yurgo and Tyc back to the shadows of the buildings.

"It's not," Tyc said hushly. Yurgo and Kaz ducked down beside a building, hidden in it's shady corners. Tyc remained in the sunlight, poised and alert, his hand placed steadily on the wall beside him.

"What are you doing?" Yurgo whispered. "Get down!"

"Hold on," Tyc whispered back, heading back out to the sand.

"Tyc!" Kaz and Yurgo could only watch.

Tyc took his place before the streets half empty, for these areas of the city were never publicized. The slums and back alleys were for orphans and gangs like he and his friends. He suddenly felt an aching want for Jet's protection-- this new movement was powerful, very powerful. He could feel it's energy vibrating through the dirt as it grew closer, closer...

What was it?

At last they approached. Tyc could feel them emerging from the alleyways. Two of them, hurrying.

Towards him.

Toph finally jerked to a stop, and Aang had to airbend to catch himself from falling. They faced an open area, only sand and grass and dirt, stretching out to the back wall of the city. The sun bore down here- the grass off to the sides glistened, the sand was blinding white, the dirt shining copper.

In their midst, not twenty feet before them, a small boy stood. He was stocky, structured, like Toph. Pale skin glowed in the sun, short black hair brushed his brow. He held the stance of an earthbender, legs bent and apart, his hands fisted closely at his abdomen. He looked no older than eight or nine.

Toph's finger flared forward, pointing straight at the boy.

"You!" she announced, her voice firm and aggressive, the same way she would talk to him during training sessions.

"You're an earthbender," Toph continued, her finger lowering. "And you're blind."

Aang gaped, staring at the boy's face.

The boy's empty, white irises stared back at him.


	3. Chapter 3: Advancement

3

With Jet's wrist in her grip, Kioki folded in and out of the crowds, welding the back of her elder sister's head into her focused mind. Her sister and the scarred boy had circled the block and halfway through started back towards the tea shop-- At last they were approaching the green door where the boy worked. Kioki and Jet hung back to watch a few words pass between the couple; after a conclusion was made, the scarred boy slipped back into the tea shop. Kioki's sister remained, leaning against the shop's corner, waiting.

"Perfect," Kioki droned. "Oh, so perfect. Could this be any more in our favor?"  
"If she doesn't go for it, all this will be for nothing," Jet grumbled over her shoulder.

"_No_, if she doesn't go for it, we confront the boy directly and at last you get your hands dirty."

Jet grimaced, but Kioki had snagged his wrist again and pulled him from the crowd before he could respond.

Crossing through the sand to where she stood, it wasn't until Kioki spoke that her sister noticed them.

"Well, well, Jet, look who it is! My biggie sister Jin."

Jin bristled and spun around, her high pony-tail whipping around her ears.

"_Kioki_?" Instead of love in her voice, there was shock, anger... dislike.

"What's up?" Kioki said lightly, a smirk in her eyes.

Jin looked strangely offended.

"You would know, if you were home! Where in the world have you been?"

Kioki jerked her head to Jet looming at her shoulder.

"Say hello to Jet. He rules these streets."  
Jet's brow bounced in acknowledgment. "Hey."

Jin's eyes lingered on him for a moment, and her grimace nearly vanished, but she turned back to glare at Kioki not long later.

"Jet? You mean, the one all the marketers talk about? The _thief_?"

Kioki smiled, as did Jet.

"Jet's no thief," Kioki explained smugly. "He's just a human taking what measures are necessary to survive."

"Heh," Jin shook her head. "You should know better, Ki."

"Hey, now, don't be rude, after all, he _is_ standing right here." Kioki shifted her weight.

"So who's this new boy, hm?"

"As I said before, you'd know if you were home. I'm telling mom I saw you. She's going to send dad and Ruvai out to find you."

Kioki mock-sighed disappointment. "That's too bad. I know dad doesn't like wasting time."

Jin's eyes narrowed. "Just wait."  
Kioki sighed. "All right. Listen, Jin, I'm sorry. I didn't come here to start a fight. I... kinda miss you, actually. And... I'm interested in what you're up too. It's kinda weird not knowing what's going on at home."

Jin didn't say anything-- only looked a tad bit touched.

"I want to meet your new boyfriend," Kioki said. "You know, maybe you and he and I-- and Jet, if he feels up to it-- we could all go out to lunch or something. I do care, Jin, even if I don't act like it."

Jin's eyes lowered. A lifetime of sisterhood was finally working it's magic in Kioki's favor. She kept going.

"Come on, Jin, just an outing. What do you say? It'll be fun."  
Jin's copper-green eyes met hers. "Lee's not entirely... open. I think the Fire Nation put him through a lot."

"Yeah," Kioki mused. "We've seen his burn scar."

"I just don't know if meeting tons of new people right away is a step in the right direction, as far as his recovery goes."

"Well, you can't really say that without sounding hypocritical. You're dating him, aren't you? He must have _some_ spunk if he was in the mood to ask you out."  
"Iasked _him_," Jin corrected sullenly. "And I've just been trying to figure out who he is, that's all."  
"So are we," Kioki said, extending her hands innocently. "I just want to meet him, that's all. In fact, I might have something to bring up with him. He's just going to have to get used to that. He's a new person in a new city. A new _world_. What does he expect, just to go unnoticed? Come on, Jin, it's just gonna be acquaintances. So? Will you plan on it?"

Jin stared at her for a long moment, and then looked up at Jet. He was leaning against the side of the teashop, rotating the weed between his lips. He shot her a playful smirk and it seemed to Kioki that she saw color touch Jin's cheeks.

"Will Jet come too?" she asked quietly. The question surprised Kioki, bringing her lashes together in a blink. Considering, she glanced over her shoulder at the boy. Jet's eyebrow lifted, and he shrugged with indifference. Away from Jin's sight, Kioki's eyes glistened warningly. Jet nodded.

"Yeah, I'll come," he said through his teeth, angling the weed between them up toward his bangs.

Jin's eyes dropped, and the hint of a smile tugged at one corner of her mouth.

"I'll bring it up with Lee. If he agrees, where do you want to meet?"

Kioki considered for a moment, her eyes drifting up in thought. Jin's own gaze rested for a moment on Jet.

"Jet, what's that one place Tyc loves?" Kioki asked thoughtfully.

"Chaonui's Haven?" was Jet's reply. He caught Jin's eyes and she quickly looked away.

"Yeah." Kioki shot a mischievous look at Jin. "You don't mind coming down to the back alleys of Ba Sing Se, do you? It's decent when considered-- not half as crowded as up here."

Jin nodded. "I'll trust you guys to that. Okay. I hope Lee and I will see you there, Ki. And Jet," she added shyly.

"Thanks, Jin," Kioki said, smiling the first genuine smile Jet had seen on her lips, and turning on her heel back into the streets. Jet clicked his tongue at Jin in goodbye and started off after her, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Jin stared after them, trying to beat down the rising liking towards Jet's charismatic stride.

Jet caught up at Kioki's shoulder and took her elbow in his fingers.

"That was all a big fat lie, and I know it."

Kioki snorted.

"What did you expect? C'mon, Jet, we gotta play this cool."  
"But did you have to lie _that_ much? I mean, seriously, even _I_ was starting to think you'd gone overboard when you said you actually _missed_ home and _wanted_ to know what was going on with your family."

"It's all part of the act, pal. Now if you want any reward from this, you have to trust me. All right? If I recall correctly, you related to me a pastime of yours: lying to pretty girls about drowning an entire Earth kingdom village and then actually trying to convince her that it was the right thing to do."

"I'm starting over, Kioki. You know that. I've put it behind me."

"But it still happened, Jet. Don't you turn into a hypocrite like Princess Jin."

"I won't. Believe me."

He sighed, and gently stroked her arm.

"I just hope you know what you're doing, that's all. Don't hurt yourself or anything."

"Who are you and what have you done with Jet?"

She chuckled as she swatted his smirking lips away from her ear.


	4. Chapter 4: The First PECULIAR

4

_You! You're an earthbender. And you're blind._

Kaz smacked her palm over Yurgo's mouth.

Tyc only stood there, silent for a moment longer, and then spoke.

"Yeah. I know." He spoke lightly, almost... cheerfully.

The girl, who, after a moment of studying was revealed to also be blind, scowled and dropped her finger.

"Who taught you?" she demanded.

Tyc shrugged. "No one. I just... did it."

Yurgo pinched Kaz hard in the leg. She nudged him in the ribs.

"Quiet!" she hissed. "Let Tyc handle this!"

Yurgo wrestled her fingers off his lips for a moment to squeeze out a few words.

"That kid-- he's the Avatar!"

"_What _?"

Yurgo pointed, the tip of his finger peeking out from the shadows. Kaz's eyes followed the angle of his arm and saw the boy beside the blind girl. She saw the arrow curving his head, the others following the length of his bare legs, the foreign clothing that would make a poor person far too warm for this weather.

_The air nomads are a chilly place, _Jet had said. _I know because I've met a kid from them. Did you know the Avatar is back?_

"He's... just a kid," she whispered, her hand slowly slipping from Yurgo's chin.

"So... airbender?"

Kaz shook her head.

"I guess so."

The blind girl had advanced a few yards now, and was closer to Tyc than Yurgo and Kaz remembered. Yurgo made an aggressive move to exit the darkness-- Kaz grabbed his belt and shoved him back down.

Aang's lip between his teeth relaxed somewhat as Toph set her weight on her ankle and crossed sturdy arms across her chest.

"Well," she said, the edge in her voice slowly fading, "I guess I should congratulate you. You've got good skill from what I can feel."

"Are you an earthbender too?" Tyc asked rather excitedly. "So is Yurgo. Erm-- he's my friend. Are you from this city?"

"Heh. No. But there's not much difference here from where I did."

"Did they force you into the slum alleys and tell you to keep the freak-magic to yourself?"

Toph was quiet. Aang stood shocked. Why would people do that to benders?

_I thought benders were admired and glorified by their people. Who would do such a thing?_

_Well, at least Toph was encouraged in the arenas._

"Yeah," Toph finally said.

Aang blinked, staring at the back of her head-- but remained silent.

"Think fast, scamp!" Toph barked.

Suddenly her arm shot upward, summoning from the ground before her a row of boulders. They were as big as Aang, bigger, all catapulted towards the small boy in a simultaneous _bang. _From a few yards off, a girl's yelp of fear echoed in the showering of pebble debris, but before any movement could be made, the boulders were shattered mid-drift, the boy's small fist brandished before his blank eyes.

"You forgot I have ears," he said, giggling somewhat when the crumbling had settled. "Cool move, though."

Toph's lip curled.

Her arms worked the familiar patterns of bending, Aang wincing as audience behind her.

This time the earth folded in on itself, solid ground becoming writhing waves of dirt. Aang knew this move well, and tensed in worry- he watched the boy's bare feet be picked up in the crevices of the first few waves, and hoisted by ride to the crests. Again, he brandished little knuckles before his face, a grip of flesh tighter and firmer than Aang had ever seen, and instantly the waves were settled, collapsing as if all bending had abruptly stopped.

Aang stared at Toph's trembling arms. It hadn't.

The boy's feet hit the ground and he steadied himself in a stance of defense.

He had silenced the workings of her chi before they had fully been carried out.

Toph hurled herself forward-- in her wake, a gigantic hailstorm of rock and dirt raged.

"Tyc!" A girl dark of complexion leapt from somewhere Aang hadn't identified--

Toph's feet hit the ground toe-to-toe with Tyc's, and the tidal wave of earthy debris showered before her, crumbling right past her nose all onto the small boy. The boy's figure blinked in and out of view behind the assault until he was just a sillouhette behind a billowing wall, until then at last the mess thickened so that he had vanished from view completely. Toph stood untouched, rigid, hands fisted and back arched menacingly. Everyone waited.

The dust was snuffed away to reveal an equally untouched Tyc, firm in stance as Toph, a litter of soil and sand about his feet. His fist was still erect before his eyes. Toph stood nose to nose before him and so Aang did not see the boy's knuckles relax and slowly unfold. The small, pudgy arm dropped to his side. The only sound was the faint whispering of dust.

"I wasn't expecting that one," Tyc said, a tremor of amusement in his small voice. "You're pretty clever. I'd have to say I've never met someone like you before."

In her mind, Toph scanned the boy's flesh, earth-sensing him inside and out, fighting furiously for a trace of anywhere his bending protection had failed. There wasn't a grain of sand, a speck of dust, anywhere on his flesh, his clothes, his hair... nothing.

"How are you doing that?" she hollered into his face, actually grabbing his shirt collar and giving him a shake.

"No blind earthbender could ever do that! How can you deflect the airborne attacks if you can't see them, and you can't earthbend to see them? Huh?!"  
Tyc's fingers closed around her hand and he jerked her grip away.

"I wait. And listen."

Toph flinched. Growling under her breath, she stepped back.

"No. There's something else. Some other... I don't know what to call it. It's sending ringing through the ground, and let me tell you, when all you've got to do all day is hear, it can get pretty annoying! So whatever it is, stop it!"

Tyc's face remained stoic, but his lips twitched as if forbidding a frown.

"I've never heard a ringing or anything like that. Whatever it is, if it even exists, I can't control it."

"Don't give me that," Toph snarled, leaning into him again. The bangs about their brows brushed together.

"You may think you're just earthbending, but there's something screwy going on with you, and don't think I'm just gonna leave it where it is. When something bites me, _I bite back_."

She finished with a jab of two fingers into his small chest, such a Toph guesture, and then turned on her heel to march back to Aang's side.

"C'mon, Twink. We'll leave Ding Dong here to counsel his chi."

Aang sold one last look to the child. He stood relaxed of stance, head tilted downward, eyes blank at the ground. Aang was about to turn back when Tyc reached a hand into a pocket and withdrew... a copper coin.

"Does this offer any explanation?"

Aang heard Toph stop in her tracks but was too busy catching the coin as it was tossed into his perimeter.

"I found it once after meditating... at least, what I've been taught is meditating. I've never known what it means."

Aang turned the coin over in his fingers. On one side, the engraven symbol of the element earth. On the other, the symbol of air. Opposites, two such different realms. He set it in Toph's open palm after getting his share of examination.

Briefly he told her what she would have seen, as she too turned it over in her fingers and felt the ridges, a thoughtful expression on a dirtied face.

Her lips pursed, and then she handed it back to Aang.

"No can do. Here's your toy back."

Aang walked up to the boy and placed it in his fingers. As he turned to leave, he felt those same fingers caress his arm, pulling him gently to a stop.

"You're the Avatar, aren't you?" the child said, his voice bright with awe yet darker with secretive knowledge.

Aang blinked.

"Yeah, I am. My name's Aang."

"Nice to meet you, Aang," Tyc said, smiling. "I'm Tyc. Is your friend's name Toph?"  
Aang gulped. "Yep."

Tyc pocketed the coin again, turning his empty eyes up into Aang's.

"I'm not the only one that has a coin, you know. I think there's another one, with the symbols fire and water. Will you keep your eyes open for it for me? I just think... if you're the Avatar, you might happen upon it, just because of your power."

Aang shrugged, unsure.

"I'll do what I can."  
Tyc grinned.

"Thanks, Avatar."

"Hey, Twinkles! You comin' or what?"

Aang bit his lip.

"I better go."

Tyc nodded, and shot him another playful smile.

"See yah, Aang."

"See yah."

Aang cursed for not having his shoes with him as the hard rocks Toph had pulled up bit into the soles of his feet. With difficulty, he caught up to her.

"You didn't have to be that rude, you know," he said quietly.

She jerked to a stop and glared at him.

"_Rude_? You think that was _rude_? Listen! That kid's gotta learn where his place is. He's toying with me, I know it! He knows exactly what he's doing, creating that ring. You're lucky you're still an amateur and aren't nagged by it every night!"

"So you've heard it before."

"You could say that. But I didn't know it was earthbending until today."

Aang shook his head.

"I just don't think this is so much to get worked up about."

"Well, if that's how you think, then go ahead and think it, but don't get touchy around me. You already have in the past-- need I remind you about my ways of punishment?"

She began to stalk away, but he was caught by a realization so outrageous and amazing that he just had to voice it, no matter what trouble it would throw him into.

"You're jealous of that kid, aren't you?"

Toph bristled, spinning around to glare daggers into his skull.

"_What_?"

"You're jealous that he has this 'special skill' that you can't explain. You think it's an advantage."  
"_Me? Jealous?" _Toph spat, appalled.

"You're afraid he could turn out to be a better earthbender than you."

Aang folded his arms across his chest, loving and dreading what was happening. He couldn't believe he was risking his neck this far, when he was already close to her edge.

Toph jabbed her finger forward.

"_Ooh_, you are the most _ridiculous_, air-brained dunderhead I have _ever_ been unlucky enough to meet!"

He was knocked from his feet by a violent swipe of earth, and when he managed to pull himself into sitting position, she was long gone.

He couldn't believe that he chuckled.


	5. Chapter 5: Invasion

5

Katara was almost ready to whip out a string of water and freeze Sokka's lips shut forever.

Block after block, corner after corner, their whole walk had ceased to be about meeting up with Toph and Aang and was now about listening to Sokka whine about his stupid missing boomerang.

Katara found herself sympathizing at times, after all it would have been a real drag to lose her pouch of bending water. But then over and over again Sokka's dramatizing only forced her into putting on the attitude of 'stupid boomerang' and not half caring if they ever found it or not.

"I can't believe someone would actually steal it! I mean, do you have any idea how valuable that thing is? It was crafted by the elders at the water tribe! It's not just a weapon, it's a relic! And someone thinks their big enough to steal is right from under me! You would think the world would have more respect for art! I mean, that thing must be ten times it's value now that it's in the Earth Kingdom! Do these people even know their own currency? I bet you it's already sold by now, being given to a dog to chew up and totally destroy--"

"_Sokka_. It's a blade. Okay? It's totally replaceable back home, and it's probably not worth much more than those igloos we were living in."

"That's not true! It was presented to me by the men of the tribe! This dumb Avatar quest isn't doing it justice, darnit!"

"We'll find it. It's probably just back at the apartment under a couch or something."

"I lost it in the streets, Katara! The streets! It was stolen! _I've been robbed, woman!"_

He paused to catch his breath, Katara's ears praising the brisk moment of silence.

"And what am I supposed to use in the meantime?"

Katara shrugged.

"We just won't get into trouble in the meantime. I'm telling you, Sokka, it's not gone forever. We're going to find it, and it's going to be in fine condition."

"_Gehhhrrrrrrr_!"

The girl was cloaked and hooded, but her adaptation to busy streets wasn't fully complete, and so though she was discreet enough in appearance, her frequent bumping into people didn't do her much good. In only seconds, most of the citizens in the perimeter knew she was there. It wasn't terrible-- She was actually looking for someone to approach, but no one's disgruntled expression as she intruded on their walking welcomed much conversation, and so she was forced to keep looking for that one cheerful person who was far out of her range.

She found them.

She had actually, at the back of her mind, been following the two for about a couple minutes, just not letting her feet know it. While she had been folding in and out of the people, walls of beige and green and caramel colored clothing, the two figures of blue had stood out as a beacon of relief. Something about them drew her forward, some youthful trust about them was approachable.

They were definitely foreign, and at times their strange clothing looked ridiculous next to the latest Earth Kingdom fashions. Even their way of walking separated them from everyone else. Their curious strides clashed with the energetic gaits of the teenagers around them. The look of awe at the-- from their view-- strangely structured buildings, their unfamiliarity with the rocky terrain... There was no way they could answer their question, no way they would even know what she was talking about in the beginning.

But compared to everyone else around her, they were a map of the city. The city that was now her home, because her last one had been left in flames.

Clutching the fabric of her hood below her chin, she quickly slipped between two large men about to cross paths and made her way to the girl's back. She had been hearing the boy's complaints about something lost, and was feeling in a more accepted mood towards the girl.

Lightly touching the girl's shoulder, she said more quietly than she meant, "Um-- excuse me?"

Katara turned too see a girl with her hand outstretched, about her height, perhaps Sokka's age.

She was cloaked and hooded in deep brown with golden trim, a pretty face staring cautiously out from the brim of the hood. Large eyes of mild olive, half concealed in shadow, small lips lightly puckered in hope. Fragile hands held at her shirt's collar.

"I... I'm wondering if you can help me find someone."

Sokka only stared so Katara took the reins.

"Sure," she said cheerfully. "We'll help how we can."  
The girl looked beyond relieved.

"Thank you-- I'm sorry if you don't know any-- I mean, you don't live here, do you?"  
Her eyes wandered to their watertribe clothing. Katara followed her gaze and smiled.

"Oh, no, you're right. We're just here for a time. Who are you looking for?"  
"Well..." the girl bit her lip, as if embarrassed to say.

"Do you need to see the king?" Sokka asked. "Because if so, then tough luck-- it would be easier to see a shooting star."

Katara pinched him lightly in the arm.

"Ow!"

"No," the girl said. "He was... the one I'm looking for... he was traveling here when I first met him. With his uncle."

"What's his name?" Katara asked, trying to sound as open as possible.

"Lee," she said. "He might be sixteen. And his uncle's name was... Mushi, I think. Though..."

She giggled softly.

"His uncle referred to him as 'Junior'."

Sokka snorted.

"Poor kid."  
Katara fingered her chin, looking about them. Through the shifting walls of passing bodies, she could make out different shops, until she had spotted one she had remembered seeing while passing by.

"I think we can get you set up."

Taking the girl's shoulder, she guided her around and started off into the streets again.

"Uh, Katara, where are you going?" Sokka whined.

"I know how I can help her," Katara said over her shoulder. "C'mon!"

Sokka sighed in exasperation and started blindly into the crowds. He had no sooner taken a second step before he was clobbered into the sand by some enormous force.

"Ow-- Watch it!"

Sokka coughed into his arm, shedding dust from his face. Katara turned around quickly to see her brother curled underneath the knees of a truly gigantic man. Muscles bulged like boils down his arms, and he glared menacingly down at Sokka with a suspicious glint in beady eyes. A long black beard was braided down his belly, and hung loose of his belt to dangle before Sokka's head.

"'Watch it' right back at cha," he sneered in a deep, powerful voice. Katara's eyes had not widened in fright before one of his monstrous hands bent low and snagged onto Sokka's collar, plucking him from the dirt and hoisting him high above his balding head.

"Ahh! A-hey, put me down!"

Sokka's scrawny legs kicked and squirmed to no avail.

"The next time you think about travelin', you might wanna consider the neighborhood people, and how much they can appreciate a fly in their soup like you."

"You put my brother down!" Katara marched to his side, biting her lip against the nervous chills that zipped up her back as she saw the man's beefy chest puffed up above her.

His head lowered to grin squarish, disarranged teeth down at her through his unkept beard.

"Nothin' personal, miss," he said matter-of-factly, and in the next instant his fingers had flexed and Sokka was on his rump in the dirt again with a _thud_.

"Just makin' sure he knows his place in a place that's not his."

And with that his massive legs by-passed them all and he continued on his way into the burning crowds. Katara dropped to her knees to help Sokka to his feet.

"Are you okay?"

"Rrrr, who was that guy?" Sokka spun about to glare at the man's slowly fading back.

"I'll take him here and now! He's got a problem with me? Bring it on, beef shop!"

His fists began flailing and Katara couldn't believe she was actually having to hold him back.

"Sokka, stop it. Are you crazy? He creamed you on _accident_. Will you _please_ watch where you're going?"

"Me? It's him who needs to watch where he's going! Look at him, he's Appa!"

Katara's eyes narrowed in disgust and she turned back to the cloaked girl.

"Sorry about that. My brother's a dufus."

"Hey! Did you hear what he said to me? Talk about grouchy civilians!"

"C'mon, Sokka."

"Fine, have no sympathy on the guy who's saved our butts countless times in the past. I'm cool with that!"

"Name once," Katara said, "and I'll reward you five more minutes of talking."  
Ignoring his response, she urged them forward and leaned close to the girl to speak in undertone.

"So what's your name? Are you a refugee?"

"Yes," the girl said smally. "My name is Song. My village was destroyed by the Fire Nation a few weeks back. My mother and I came here just two days ago."

"I'm sorry," Katara said. "It must be hard. I've lost homes to the Fire Nation as well."

"Oh. Was your village destroyed too?"  
"Not exactly," Katara said. "I was forced from it because of the Fire Nation. They had captured the Avatar, so my brother Sokka and I left to rescue him."

"You know the Avatar?" She sounded truly amazed.

"Yes," Katara said. "Would you like to meet him?"  
"Yes, please," Song said, smiling. "My father is fighting in the war. When we heard the Avatar had returned, it filled our village with so much hope. I'd love to express it to him."  
"He would appreciate that very much." Katara gave Song's shoulder a friendly squeeze.

"I'm taking you to a Locator. They're outposts all around the city where records of all residences are kept. I'm sure we'll be able to find Lee and Mushi in no time."

"Thank you... Katara?"  
"Yes."

"Thanks... a lot. I was really worried I would never find them."

By now Sokka had been quieted to just scowls and they had approached the front doors of the Locator post. Katara was the lead, so she opened the door to admit her friends first. When they stepped inside, they were surprised at what they saw.

The room was lightless but for two dimly lit candles, and atop each wick sat an emerald, using the candle's light to cast a green glow on the wooden furniture and floor. The room was strangely silent, the windows shuttered tightly, with only one in the back loose enough to admit thirteen slim beams of light. The light was cast on the surface of a solitary desk at the back wall. Slowly the three made their way towards it, growing wary.

In the light sat two hands folded together atop a thin stack of papers. Their owner's sillouhette was concealed in the shadow. The three paused a few paces before it, unsure, and then Katara stepped forward.

"Um, is this the Locator for this end of the city?"

"It is." The man's voice was smooth, nonchalant. Eerie. Katara rubbed at the chills on her arms.

"Could I get the locations of a certain Lee and his uncle Mushi? They should be one of the newer residents."

She glanced over her shoulder to check with Song, who nodded.

The hands on the desk unfolded, and disappeared into the darkness. Rummaging could be heard, the man's dark shadow changing shape as he moved. After a while he returned to the desk, this time allowing a portion of his face to enter the light. An elegant chin, colorless lips... a face stoic as if carved from stone.

"Refugees Lee and Mushi, currently employed at a certain tea shop in the market areas. The address details are included in this file. Visuals are unavailable for the time being, with so many refugees and all..."

He extended a hand, a single file betwixt two delicate fingers.

"Right..." Katara cautiously took the file, watching his hand disappear into the darkness. She looked up into his face, into those eyes now revealed that glimmered green from the candles.

"Thank you," she said more softly than she met, and began to step back. As she did, the man's position shifted, the front of his robe coming into the light--

Stitched across his chest was the clear insignia of the Dai Li.


	6. Chapter 6: The Second PECULIAR

6

Zuko stepped into the tea shop and scowled at the instant waft of jasmine that flooded his senses. It was another busy day-- almost all the tables were full. The air was warm with gentle music, the tapping shoes of waiters, the quiet laughter of two men in the corner. All the same, old people in the same, old clothing, with the same, old sounds.

In the same, old city.

Zuko pocketed his hands and made his way grimly to the front counter where the top of Iroh's circular form could be seen. Brushing quickly by a passing waitor, Zuko set the palm of his hand on the counter top and swung himself over onto the other side, something his employer hated, which was exactly why he did it. He landed right beside Iroh with a muffled thud. The old man jumped, spilling droplets of tea down his front.

"Prince Zuko!" he exclaimed, and Zuko seized his shoulder.

"Shhh!"

"Oh--" Iroh whispered, snatching up a napkin-- "sorry!"

Disgruntled, he dabbed at his chest.

"But you know, you _could_ be a little more considerate of your uncle's tea break."

"Sometimes I don't believe you," Zuko said, shaking his head, and then leaned down closer to his uncle's ear. Iroh lifted the cup of tea back to his lips.

"Uncle, I need the broadswords."

Iroh inhaled a sip and choked, coughing into his cup and spilling it down his shirt again.

"Be careful!" Zuko hissed. "You always make that too hot."

Iroh grumbled to himself, still clearing his lungs of tea, and then turned to Zuko, water-eyed.

"What? Why?"

"I'll explain later," Zuko said, golden eyes sweeping the room behind them.

"Just where are they?"

"Now, listen, Prince Zuko," Iroh dabbed at his beard with the napkin.

"I'm not about to let you go stir up trouble--"

"Gehrr, Uncle, you're missing the whole point!" Zuko snatched the napkin from Iroh's fingers to be sure he listened.

"_I'm_ not the one stirring up trouble, it's the two that are _stalking_ me!"

"Stalking you?" At last Iroh seemed attentive. "Who?"  
"I don't know," Zuko said, glaring at the floor. "But they're doing a lame job at hiding it. I haven't gotten a moment to see their faces yet, but I can sense them, Uncle-- they're always right behind us."  
"Us?"

Zuko grimaced. "Jin's with me."  
"Oh, yes, that's right." Iroh smiled, and then looked worried.

"Zuko, where are your manners? Did you bring her in for some tea?"

"Uncle, will you _pay attention_?" Zuko shook his head and moved to the end of the counter.

"Are they in your closet?"

"Zuko, I honestly don't think--"

"_Tell me_, Uncle."

"Excuse me, Mushi, sir."

A waitor had approached the counter, one about Zuko's age. They had spoken with him some times before, though he talked to not many people. A pair of silver-blue eyes stared out from under a placid brow, sparkling bright against his dark brown skin. His hair used to have been long and rugged but he had shaved it down to a single layer of dark fuzz, something everyone working in the shop had to adjust to. He was a handsome young boy that Iroh had taken a liking to. And of course, because of that, he was a pet peeve of Zuko's.

"I'm needing two leeches and a jasmine, sir."

"Coming right up, Maanyu," Iroh said cheerfully, turning to the row of pots behind the counter. Zuko glared at the distraction. He being a favorite of Iroh's was not the only reason Zuko disliked him.

It was the fact that he was a runaway from the North Pole, and a very skilled waterbender, that also made Zuko's flesh crawl with disgust.

Not very many times in the past had Zuko had pleasant confrontations with waterbenders.

Maanyu's flat, exotic lips pulled up in a smirk and Zuko turned his grimace away. Iroh began to whistle an old Fire Nation lullaby as he worked. Maanyu turned his attention to Zuko, who had his arms folded tightly across his chest.

"Is that your girlfriend outside, Lee?" he asked casually, his eyes glinting in amusement.

Zuko's lip curled.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"What?" Iroh turned to stare befuddled at his nephew.

"Nonsense, nephew, you two have been dating for a week at least."

Zuko's jaw tightened.

"Ah, okay," Maanyu said, setting the tray in his hands on the counter top and leaning on his elbows.

"You haven't asked her yet, so it's not official."

"I have to ask her?" Zuko snarled.

Maanyu opened his hands, considering.

"She could be expecting that."

Iroh turned to the counter and set three cups of steaming brew on Maanyu's tray.

"Order up," he said pleasantly.

"Thanks, Mushi." Maanyu took up the tray in his hands, and glanced an aloof smile at Zuko.

"She's cute, Lee." And he turned back towards the tables.

"Don't remind me," Zuko grumbled under his breath, glaring daggers into Maanyu's back.

"Now, nephew, what do you have against that young man?" Iroh asked. On cue, a pitcher of cooling water was tipped over at a far side table. Setting his orders down at one table, Maanyu made his way over the spill. The people in the shop watched him intently. Standing above the puddle, he worked a simple move with his two fingers and the water snaked up from the stone floor, twirling together in the air below his fingertips. Suspending it there, he uprighted the pitcher and then beckoned the water pour back inside. The customers at the table applauded, beaming. Maanyu nodded and went back to the other table.

"He's full of himself," Zuko said.

"Not at all," Iroh retorted. "Prince Zuko, I think you're jealous that he gets to use bending in the open and you don't."

"What?" Zuko whirled at him.

"Excuse me? Who was the one heating his tea in public, bringing on a psycho teenager's hunt to prove us fire nation, eventually forcing the messy work of fighting him off on _me_, huh?"

Iroh's brow lowered and he brought a cup of tea to his lips. Zuko growled and turned away.

"Now where are the broadswords? I'm not asking again."

"Why have you not told Jin about these two? I think it is important for you to be honest with her, Zuko."

"She doesn't need to know. _I'll_ decide what I need to be honest with her about and what not."

For a long moment, they stared at eachother, and then the tea shop door opened.

At the jingle of the bell, both Zuko and Iroh turned. Jin stood in the doorway, looking through the waiters until she found Zuko at the far counter.

"Lee!" Quickly she made her way towards him.

Iroh shot a warning glance at Zuko. Zuko glared steel right back and then stepped around the counter to meet her. She approached him quickly, a smile breaking on her lips, and took his hands excitedly in her own.

"Lee, guess what? My sister's in the city, and she wants to meet you. She's asked us to Chaonui's Haven tomorrow for lunch."

Zuko stared.

"Your sister?"

"Yes. Her name is Kioki, remember? I told you about her."  
Iroh leaned on the counter, pretending to be entirely focused on his tea, and listened.

Zuko looked down.

"Yeah... She was here just now?"

"And she was with a friend. She said he was just a friend, but I don't think so--"  
"A friend?" Zuko's eyes narrowed.

"What did he look like?"

It seemed to Zuko that she blushed.

"I think he's that thief all the marketers talk about. But he seemed nice. He was tall, dark, and he was wearing armor. His name was... Jet."

Inside, where she couldn't see, Zuko's eyes flamed in anger. He saw the boy, remembered every word he had said, recalled every move of their duel just two weeks before inside and outside this very tea shop. Inside, he cursed the name and wondered madly why the officials had released him, why the delinquent wasn't locked up for good.

On the outside, he nodded and forced a half-smile.

"Will you come?" Jin asked hopefully.

"Sure. Why not."  
She beamed.

"You want to? Oh, Lee, thank you! I'm really excited."

She hugged him about the arms, making it impossible for he to return her embrace, and Iroh smiled into his cup. Zuko only blanched as Maanyu grinned from across the room. After a moment she pulled away to kiss him, and this time Iroh had to turn completely around to hide his amusement. Zuko didn't even bother to look at Maanyu.

"What time is it?" she asked as she pulled away, leaving Zuko stiff as granite.

Iroh spun about.

"It's three thirty, miss Jin."

"Oh, I need to go home," she said, disappointed. "My mother's expecting me. I'll see you here tomorrow, Lee."

"Okay."

She waved and Zuko watched her leave, moving backwards towards his uncle. As soon as the shop door had shut behind her, he grabbed Iroh's sleeve.

"Broadswords. _Now_."


	7. Chapter 7: Invaders

7

Sokka stumbled down the steps of the Locator in his haste to get out. Katara and Song followed behind quickly as he caught himself before falling over.

"Great!" Sokka exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"_Just_ great!"

"Who was that?" Song asked, truly confused.

"One of the Dai Li," Katara explained sullenly.

"Who are they?" Song asked.

"What, they haven't stuck their big noses in your life yet?" Sokka's gaze snapped to her hooded face.

Slowly she removed the hood to reveal warm, brown hair pulled in two braids down her bosom.

"Well, no," she said rather humorously.

Sokka leapt into her face, startling her.

"Run away from here! Leave before they can get you! Hurry, Katara and I will cover you!"

"Relax, Sokka--" Katara shoved him away, turning to Song.

"Sorry. It's just... we haven't had nice times with the Dai Li in the past. They're an organization that works for the king, and a little... too secretive for our taste."

"But you're a refugee, so you know about the war, right?" Sokka asked.

Song nodded.

"My father's fighting in it. How could anyone not know about the war?"  
"The people who grew up here don't," Katara said sorrowfully. "Apparently the Dai Li has strict laws on not mentioning the war within the walls of the city."

"They want to keep it a secret," Sokka said distastefully.

"Why?" Song looked truly stunned.

"We... wish we knew," Katara said. "I think it's just a way to keep power comparable to the Earth King's. Sometimes we wonder if the king even _has_ any power. Maybe since the city is so big, if a panic or riot arose, it would be unstoppable, so they have to ensure control."  
"They're just full of themselves, that's all, and their leader Long Feng is a bite in the--"  
"We've met him," Katara said quickly, "and he's not the nicest guy. We assume he's just using the Earth King to get more power. So far the Dai Li have been on our case a lot, because of the Avatar's presence here. They think him more of a threat than a beacon of hope."

Song's gaze lowered.

"So it's as if they _want_ the war to continue, just so they can have power," she said sorrowfully.

"And now they've taken over the Locators!" Sokka shook his head. "What's this city coming to?"

"I guess no one is really safe here." Song collected the fabric of her hood in fearful fingers.

"If the Fire Nation were to attack, we would be defenseless."

Katara draped an arm around the girl's shoulders comfortingly.

"If you or your mother ever need any help, you can just come to us."

"Thank you," Song said softly, forcing a smile.

"But I think for now the Dai Li isn't about to do anything drastic," Katara continued, looking out over the streets.

"They want to be as discreet as possible. They're not about to threaten anyone openly."

"Except us," Sokka grumbled. "They threatened to throw us out of the city if we even mentioned the war to anyone!"

Suddenly they froze, horror igniting their senses.

"Sokka!" Katara snarled, looking about them.

"I'm sorry!" he whispered. "But... Song already knows, so no harm done, right?"  
"Did anyone hear?" Song looked about with Katara.

"The agent inside could have heard if he wanted to," Katara said. Quickly she handed the file with Lee and Mushi's information to Song.

"Here--"

As they turned to leave, Song undid the seal to peer inside.

"Hey, you kids!"

Dust rose in their halt. In growing dread, they turned. Standing in the doorway to the Locator, the Dai Li agent's gaze bore down on them like a coming storm. Ceremonially he descended the steps, and began to cross the stand towards them.

"You," he said, staring at Katara. Song felt Katara's hand tighten about her wrist.

"Yes?" Katara asked, trying to sound as bold as possible so her response was loud.

The young, elegant face remained stoic as stone as the agent slowly approached them. Fingers unfolded from behind his back.

"You're here with the Avatar, aren't you? You and your brother and a young earthbender girl."

Sokka tensed, clutching Katara's shoulder. Katara stared harshly into the agent's glazed eyes. There was some secret behind them, some power so beyond her that she had no choice but to succumb to it.

"Yes." She heard Sokka's intake of breath.

Swiftly the agent approached Song, and snatched the file from her fingertips. The three watched helplessly as in fluid movements he slipped the information paper from it's seal and ripped it in half. Turning it, he ripped the two halves into fourths. Again and again, until they were no more than numerous little scraps. With the flick of the wrist, they fluttered from his palm in a small hailstorm of shreds, drifting down into the sand, wafted by the end of his cloak as he turned to enter the Locator.

The three watched the shredded paper collect, and once the door to the Locator had closed--

"Like we said," Sokka said nonchalantly, "nice guys."

Katara's gaze fell.

"I'm sorry, Song, it was my fault."

Sokka glared.

"Yeah, Katara, why did you--"  
"No, no," Song said quickly, "don't blame her. It's not a problem. I..."

Catching herself, she huddled close to them.

"I already saw the address," she whispered.

"You did?" Katara and Sokka stared at her, half-smiling.

"Yeah," Song said. "That's was brave of you to be honest, Katara."  
She shrugged.

"Ah, Katara's just doing her duty of making our lives more difficult," Sokka replied, turning towards the streets.

Katara took her hips in her hands, glaring at his back.

"Excuse me? RIght, I'm working to help us survive a giant, empty desert while you're spun out on cactus juice. Yep, that's me, making things harder."

"Hey!"

Song giggled at the exchange, and Sokka turned away, grumbling.

"Well," she said, "I really appreciate your guys' help. Even if these Dai Li guys are jerks."

"You better believe it," Sokka said. "Can you believe what just happened? Long Feng's sure got it in for our immediate removal from the city."

"And he's not going to get it," Katara said sternly, "because we're not leaving the palace before we see the Earth King."  
"Why do you need to see the Earth King?" Song asked, sounding awed.

"It's about the war," Sokka said, glancing at Katara. Katara understood-- they had told this girl a lot, and had only barely met her. But it had seemed appropriate, at least about their presence and the truth about the Dai Li. But now... it seemed the information they held was for the king, and the king only.

But, to their surprise, Song took that as a plenty fair answer.

"And they won't let you?"

Sokka sighed noisily.

"Well, there's like, a month waiting period. Honestly, I don't think they're going to let us in at all."

"We'll find a way," Katara said. "We're also looking for Aang, the Avatar's, flying bison. We think he may be here, because he was kidnapped by some sandbenders a few weeks back and it's most likely they sold it to a local zoo or circus."

"I'm sorry about that," Song said. "What's his name?"  
"Appa," Katara said. "Aang's had him his whole life."

"I hope you find him, really," Song said. "I can relate to it. My father's been gone most of my life. I wonder if he's well, out there in a strange world where he can so easily be hurt. I'll keep my ears open for him."

"Thank you," Katara said. "If you need to get a hold of us, just ask to be taken to the Avatar's apartment. The city's officials should oblige to at least that."

"Let's hope," Sokka said sullenly. "Now I think Aang and Toph are going to bust armed and dangerous into the palace thinking the Dai Li have captured us, so we better go."

The good-byes were exchanged, and they went their separate ways.

From inside the Locator, the Dai Li agent watched from the cracked blinds of the window.

"Do you think they're up to something?" he asked the shadowy room behind him.

From the darkness, another agent emerged, previously entirely hidden. He joined his fellow agent at the window.

"What do you know of the Lee and Mushi they were asking for?" the second asked.  
"I remember Lee, the boy," the first agent said.

The first folded his arms and gently drifted away from the window back towards the desk.

"He was the one of the teenagers involved in that duel twelve days back. The one we _didn't_ arrest."

"Jet," the second said. "That was the name of the boy we did. I remember him now. Was he ever taken to Lake Laogai?"  
"Oh, yes, definitely. We was spun out on some idea... Right, that Lee and the old man Mushi were firebenders."

"Firebenders?" The second chuckled. "Unlikely. Fire Nation refugees?"  
"It did sound ridiculous," the first said, but then he paused.

"But now... actually, I think I've become a little suspicious myself."  
"Long Feng has too," the second replied. "He set up more agent posts around their tea shop, but so far they've gotten nothing since the duel."

"In fact..." The first turned towards the second, reclining his weight against the side of the desk. A finger lifted to caress his chin thoughtfully.

"This would be more proof, wouldn't it? The girl and boy from the watertribe are traveling with the Avatar. They come in here seeking information about two men under suspicion of Fire Nation identity. The two men must be here for a reason, if not for reasons concerning the Avatar. That is, if they are indeed Fire Nation. And what else for us to trust but the Avatar's own childish concern for his life?"

The second looked long and hard at the dark shape of his companion, and then nodded.

"It does make sense. Do you suggest an investigation?"  
"Not from us," the first said. Almost silently he moved behind the desk. The second followed, fluent in the blackness.

The first set a candle constructed with emerald atop the desk and lit it, casting a third green glow over the soft mahogany. Bending down into the drawers, he rifled through them again and withdrew a new file.

"Long Feng has been interested in this individual for some time now," the first said, setting the file down on the desk.

"Apparently he has skills he's not ashamed of."

With gentle fingers he undid the seal, and unraveled a profile onto the table. On it was a visual painting of a boy, beside a list of personal information. The second lowered himself closer, studying it. The boy was very dark, with rugged black hair bent in thick waves. Large, exotic lips, eyes bright crystalline blue.

"Maanyu Kaai," he said, reading the name.

"Yes," the first said. "This young man has been living here for about a year, alone. He claims his family was killed many years ago and he came here seeking a new life."

"That's what they all say," the second murmured. The first nodded.

"And most are right, except his case in very peculiar. It's a fact that he is a skilled waterbender, and came from an esteemed watertribe family. Just his appearance is enough to tell you that."  
"Indeed," the second mused. "What makes Long Feng think he'll be useful?"  
"He works in the tea shop alongside young Lee," the first said slowly.

There was a pause, and then the second turned to stare at him.

"What, has Long Feng considered using the boy as a spy?" He sounded far more incredulous than impressed.  
"More than that," the first said smoothly. "The boy would be used as an instrument to provoke Lee and his uncle, to the result of fire bending."

The second stared, still unconvinced. "That's a bold plan. There are a million ways it could go wrong."

"And there is one way it could go right," the first said, pressing on. He leaned down next to his fellow.

"The Earth King would like to invite young Maanyu to Lake Laogai."

Katara and Sokka made their way quickly through the streets, sticking to the shadows of buildings where most unfriendly interactions on the streets could be avoided. It had been at least half an hour since parting with Song, and there was still a dozen or so blocks before they reached the hill where there apartment waited.

"Ugh, how much farther?" Sokka whined, wiping at his brow. "It's so hot out here!"

"I'm not the one using all my energy being stubborn, Sokka--"  
They turned a corner to come face to face with an agent of the Dai Li.

It was not the one they had encountered at the Locator, but it hardly mattered. They all looked the same; just the same stone faces, the same smooth voices.

"Katara and Sokka of the water tribe," he said robotically, inclining his head in respect.

"I am sent to you with a message from our highest ranking Dai Li, with the recommendation of Long Feng."

Katara and Sokka stiffened, waiting. Slowing the agent withdrew a tied scroll from his sleeve.

"Please see to it that a certain Maanyu Kaai is accommodated as instructed."

"What?" Katara took the scroll before Sokka could and began to unravel it. Breathing into her neck, Sokka read fervently with her over her shoulder.

_Katara and Sokka of the water tribe will deliver this message to Maanyu Kaai, currently employed at the Jaen Seng tea shop. With your positive influence, we are sure we can carry out a smooth interaction that is vital to the protection of the Avatar's presence here in Ba Sing Se, and every other citizen in the city._

_Maanyu Kaai of the water tribes, the Dai Li request a meeting of inspection with you concerning higher employment. Please come to Lake Laogai at the edge of the city tomorrow at midday. We will be expecting you._

_Thank you for your contributions to the peaceful balance constructed here in Ba Sing Se._

"_Peaceful balance_?" Sokka repeated incredulously. "Who do they think they're kidding? And why do they need us to do it for them? Too lazy, I'd bet..."  
"Higher employment?" Katara mused. "What do you suppose..."

But she looked up to see the last fringes of the agent's robe disappearing around the corner.


	8. Chapter 8: Smite

8

Maanyu leaned against the counter, aimlessly wiping at a few tea cups with a wet cloth. Behind him, Lee worked quickly to clean up. His shift had ended two minutes ago-- he always took the always took extra care that everything put away concerning his last hours, so the head employer wouldn't drag him back by the ear and demand he take care of an unfinished job.

"Are you from the North Pole?" an alto voice suddenly asked.

Maanyu blinked and turned to see a girl about fourteen looking up at him nonchalantly, yet a flicker of awe peeked from behind her eyes.

She was very dark: deep brown skin, long black hair pulled back in a loose bun high on the back of her head. Her eyes were blazing hazel: they seemed to shine from her dark complexion as if lit with fire.

Maanyu's expression darkened. "Yeah," he said quietly. "But it's nothing amazing."

The girl chuckled.

"Heh. I think it is. Sounds better than here. I bet the populations down by half."  
He shrugged. "Only so many people know how to adapt to those climates."

"Why'd you leave?"

He frowned and looked away.

"You think I'd want to remember if it had forced me to leave my home?"

She didn't look sympathetic, or regretful. She only sighed and nodded.

"Nah. I know. Just wonderin'."

And she turned to leave the tea shop briskly, catching up with a small boy of about eight and a more lanky boy her age waiting at the door.

A moment after, Lee had finished and leapt over the counter from the palm of his hand as he always did.

"See yah," Maanyu said non enthusiastically, watching his hands.

Lee didn't respond, as usual. Maanyu began bending the water from the cloth , taking the hovering liquid and dividing it into individual droplets, rotating them about in the air with his fingers like a system of planets. Casually he shaped them into a wave, and bid it flutter, watching the false wind shape the current. He glanced to his left, the manager's office, to make sure the employer wouldn't suddenly step out and catch him slacking.

As he did, he caught the gaze of a man watching him from the corner. The man was truly gigantic, with a long black beard braided down his chest and eyes like the points of daggers. Hands big enough to hold two teacups in five fingers lay on the table, stiff, responding to the growing urgency of his gaze. Maanyu began to grow more than conscious of the intensity shaping the man's haggard features, and tried to keep his breath as at last the man stood, shaking the table at which he sat as he did, and made a beeline straight for him.

Quickly Maanyu bent the water back into the cloth, and right as he did, the man approached him. He towered over him, glaring down with those sharp eyes as if Maanyu had just insulted him to the moon and back.

Maanyu remained in his recline against the counter, deciding to not try and make himself appear taller. What good would it do?  
The man glanced down at their feet, realizing they were toe to toe, and grunted in respect, stepping back a pace. Maanyu stared into his scrunched face and realized he was only trying to approach him.

"Er--" the man tugged at his beard with sausage fingers.

"You're a waterbender, right'?"

Maanyu's brow raised, and he tossed the cloth onto the counter behind him.

"Yeah."

"Erm... don't waterbenders heal?"

Maanyu bit his lip. "Some do."  
"Do you?" The man sounded strangely hopeful.

But Maanyu shook his head.

"No. I never learned. Or I just never got the ability."

The man stared at him, and his gaze turned harsh again. For an instant it seemed he was going to rip Maanyu to pieces, and there was no doubt he could, but then he grunted again into his beard and walked awkwardly back to his table.

Some tables nearby had watched the exchange and their gazes followed the colossal man back to his seat. He sat there flushed for a while, and then met their eyes. They all looked away as quickly as they could. Some looked at Maanyu. He only shrugged to himself and picked up the cloth again.

Suddenly, the man got up from his seat again and was right where he had been before Maanyu a second before. Maanyu nearly dropped the rag.

"Do all waterbenders wear blue?" he asked.

Maanyu's mouth hung open like a dead fish. He searched desperately for words, trying to uncover what the man was after, but then rotated his head in a half nod, half shake.

"Er, yeah, in the North Pole it's the traditional color. Sort of a water insignia, y'know?"

The man's eyes lowered again, and he huffed a sigh and turned back to his table. This time the nearby customers looked directly at Maanyu, with expressions of question. He met their eyes with another shrug.

"I ran into one of 'em," the man's booming voice said from his seat. He was speaking to Maanyu. Maanyu paid him all the attention he wanted, nervously eyeing his gigantic arms smothered in muscle.

"He was a skinny little kid. High, cracked voice. He was wearin' blue, and he was with a girl. I thought they were from the North Pole. I thought they were waterbenders."

Maanyu nodded. "They could have been."

The man nodded, some of the awkwardness slowly seeping away, and he looked back down at the table.

Maanyu let out a sigh, and murmured something about breaking his habit of playing around on work hours.

A few moments later, the large man left. A little more conversation rose as he did.

Katara and Sokka were surprised when they approached the street before the tea shop to see two Dai Li agents erect at the entrance doors.

Sokka pulled Katara from the path into the shadow of a building.

"They're making sure we give the kid the note!" he hissed. "Can you believe it?"  
"Yes," Katara said, "but what will happen if we don't?"  
"I don't like this," Sokka said. "Maybe we shouldn't, and just try to hack what happens then."

Katara hesitated.

"Why do you think they want _us_ to do it?" Sokka persisted. "Because we're trustworthy, that's why! No one's going to think two teenagers as foreign as us are up to anything."  
"But the message..." Katara glanced over the words again. "This sounds like something so different than what it really is..."

"Which is exactly why we need to just forget it," Sokka said. "We don't trust the Dai Li, they don't trust us. We don't like them, they don't like us. What's one more little notch in their plans gonna do?"  
"That's just it, though," Katara said sullenly. "If we hesitate now, they'll think we know something we shouldn't."

"We know they're thugs, and they know we know. What else is there to know?"

"Sokka, you're missing it. You know we'd love to assume they're bad guys, but what if they're not? What if this is totally innocent and we're just taking wrong first impressions? Then what? Then suddenly _we're_ the bad guys."  
"Katara, are you _nuts_? They're keeping a _war_ that's lasted for a hundred years a _secret_ from the people!"

Katara sighed.

"I'm sorry. I just don't know what to think."

It seemed Sokka had no reply, and was also in the same state. There in the shade they remained, until after a moment Katara spoke.

"I'm going to deliver the message," she said boldly, "and if something goes wrong, we're helping get the boy out of it as much as we can. Agreed?"  
Sokka considered for a moment, staring harshly at the pathway, and then smirked at Katara.

"Let's do it. Dai Li, here we come."

And they stepped into the sun to cross the street.

As they approached the green doors, only the two agents' metallic black eyes shifted to acknowledge them. Sokka forced back a goofy face and quickly followed Katara through the doors.

She had not fully opened the door when Katara instantly saw a boy in the back of the shop, leaning against a serving counter. In that brief instant, she could already feel her _girlie_ --as Toph put it simply-- side kicking in, for she couldn't help noticing he was playfully handsome...

The twinkle of the shop door bell was heard, and Maanyu looked up... at the two most obvious water tribesman he had ever seen.

They were a boy and a girl, dressed in blue attire with a design that screamed their native land. Dark brown skin, like his, perfect black hair, like his... used to be, he thought, rubbing at the back of his neck where he could feel the stubble of his shaved head. They looked about his age, with shimmering blue eyes and expressions somewhat anxious. The girl lead, and Maanyu had to admit to himself that she was quite pretty. He cursed his flirtatious age.

Immediately a couple of young waiters who had recently been in battle for employee of the month clamored to their sides, suggesting tables. Maanyu took the opportunity to climb onto the other side of the counter and pretend to wash more tea cups. He tried to deny his excitement-- after all, he had disliked his life in the North Pole so much that he had run away, but it was the first time in four years he had seen anyone from a watertribe. What if they were benders? It was too much all at once; he suddenly found himself bending the water from the cups with his thoughts. He tried to control them, to force them back down, but his thoughts kept on going, and the water took forms of symbols and designs above his hands.

"Stop it," he muttered through his teeth, glaring at the water. It was so much easier for him to bend with his thoughts than his hands-- his mind channeled directly into his chi. His behavior was released through the element he was bound to. It became awfully annoying at times, because, as he had been told very clearly, no one was supposed to bend from their _mind_.

At long last he left his thoughts to bending, surrendering to his strange nature. The two who just stepped in brought back a tsunami of memories... the temple just outside his house, the noises of his mother's maidens, the sounds of his cousins' laughter as they played hide-and-seek around the icey palace...

He heard an intake of breath and he glanced up to see the two watertribe kids, the girl staring at him in amazement, the boy in rather skeptical awareness.

"You're a waterbender?" the girl breathed.

Speechless, Maanyu looked down at what his thoughts were producing. The water was swimming in a slim current along the cups' rims, causing notes to ring out from the vibrations. Peeved, he slapped his hand down on top. The current shattered and his hand was suddenly very wet.

"Yeah," he mumbled, and cleared his throat and trying again. "Yeah."

Taking the cups, he dumped them in some sink behind him, turning back to the two.

"I am too!" the girl said, and it seemed she was holding back a smile. He smiled instead, and it appeared to release her lips to do as they pleased.

The boy acknowledged their grins sourly.

"I'm Katara," she said quickly, and then caught herself, blushing slightly.

"Well, um, I-- Here," and she held out a scroll in one of her hands.

"You're Maanyu, right? My brother--Sokka-- and I were sent to give this to you."

He took it, his wet hand closing over hers as he did. He drew back quickly, taking the scroll with him.

"Ah, sorry," he said awkwardly, but she waved it off, smiling shyly.

"You're, um-- you're very talented," she said a little more boldly, nodding towards the cups behind him.

"I didn't see you bending."  
His own face colored.

"Yeah, it's... kinda one of my freakish traits."  
She stifled a laugh, turning it into a polite cough. He only chuckled.

"You can laugh."

Working his anxious fingers, he opened the scroll.

"Who's this from?" he asked, not really reading it. His mind was elsewhere.

"The Dai Li." This time the boy, Sokka, had spoken, and his tone was dark. Suddenly Maanyu had a revelation. Over the corner of the paper he studied the two... the boy... and realized they were the two the large man had spoken of. He hid his grin behind the parchment.

"And their leader, Long Feng," Katara said.

In his peripheral vision, Maanyu spotted the water in the sink behind him moving in strange patterns according to his buzzing thoughts. Scowling, he lifted a hand and it fell back down, motionless.

"Who're they?" he asked, distracted by the girl's awed gaze, as she had seen the water dancing.

"You mean you haven't met them?" Sokka asked, sounding incredulous. He turned to Katara.

"Why has no one heard of these guys? We know more than the very people living here!"  
"Did you just arrive here in the city?" Katara asked Maanyu.

He met her gaze.

"Ah, no, I've been here a few years. Why? Should I know them?"  
"Yes!" Sokka persisted. "You know, they're the guys in the green robes, creepy expressions, look and act like thugs--"  
"_Sokka_," Katara hushed, but suddenly Maanyu knew who they were talking about.

"Oh, those guys?" he asked, nodding towards the window. "You mean the ones outside? Travel in packs, kinda like a gang?"  
Sokka smirked. "That's the Dai Li."  
"Okay, got it. Yeah, I know them." Maanyu turned back to the scroll, and the two paused to let him read over it.

When he finished, his response was...

"What?"  
"I understand it's a little vague," Katara said quickly. "The Dai Li are like that. They're pretty... conservative."

"Tell me about it," Sokka mumbled.

Beyond Maanyu's knowing, Katara nudged him in the ribs.

"We don't know more than you do-- we're just messengers."

Maanyu nodded, biting his lip, looking over the fancy handwriting.

"Thanks," he said, because he didn't know what else to say. In the sink, the water shivered uncertainly.

"No problem," Sokka said lightly, and took his sister by the shoulder.

"Now, Katara and I really need to be going."

Maanyu stepped in front of the sink to hide the water's dancing frenzy at the thousands of emotions that zoomed through his mind at those words.

"Okay," he said, and caught Katara's gaze. She looked reluctant to leave.

"I'll uh-- well, bye, Maanyu," she said, unsure.

He nodded. "See yah."

But as they turned, he lunged forward, unable to control his excitement. Their presence meant so many things.

"Katara--?" It was the first time he had spoken her name, and his tongue skipped over it queasily.

She turned instantly, knocking Sokka off balance.

"Yes?"  
He set his elbows casually on the counter, trying to pull his smoother self back.

"Are you two from the North Pole?" he asked.

Sokka's eyes fell, so Katara answered.

"No, we're from the South Pole. But we've been to the North. We went there

with--"

Sokka pinched her on the arm, and she halted to draw breath, glaring at him.

Maanyu nodded.

"Okay. So... you've met the people there."  
"Yes," Katara said. "They were very friendly. Is that where you're from?"  
His own gaze fell, and the film of water on the cups glimmered dangerously.

"Yeah. But I left."

Katara and Sokka exchanged looks, somewhat shocked, and then Katara nodded.

"What was wrong?" she asked cautiously, and Sokka's face contorted in regret, but Maanyu breathed a sigh of indifference.

"It just... wasn't the place for me," he said, meeting her eyes.

_Wow_, he thought. _Some eyes._

Those eyes blinked after a moment and she bit her lip.

"Well, I'm glad you're here now. I mean, I'm glad you're happier here--" she blushed-- "I mean, if you _are_ happy here. Are you?"  
He smiled gently.

"Yeah. I like it here."

"That's good," she said, rubbing at her neck. There was a brief moment of silence, and then Sokka grabbed her arm.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Maanyu. Really. Someone else from the Watertribes, pretty cool. But Katara and I were expected somewhere about twenty minutes ago, so..."

"Right." Maanyu stood, gesturing the scroll.

"Thanks for bringing this by," he said.

"You're welcome!" Katara sold him a grin and then turned to follow her brother out of the tea shop.

Once they had left, Maanyu collapsed against the counter and let out a deep sigh, turning to grimace again at the water dancing gleefully to the rhythm of his mind.

Sokka literally pulled Katara out the front doors, almost running into the arm of a Dai Li agent as he did so.

"There, we got him the message-- you happy?" he snapped in the agent's face.

The cold eyes narrowed and the two slowly drifted away into the streets.

"Heh." Sokka glared after them and then turned to Katara. Her face was flushed with excitement. She hadn't even noticed the Dai Li.

"Another waterbender here in Ba Sing Se, can you believe it!" she exclaimed, fingers curled at her beaming face.

"And did you see what he was doing? He was using his _mind_ to _bend_! I thought that was impossible! It was so amazing!"

"Yeah," Sokka said, rolling his eyes, "that was pretty much the most incredible thing I've seen in weeks. Now seriously, Toph and Aang are going to kill us when we get back this late, so let's go."  
"Oh, I just _have_ to see him fight! I bet he's fantastic!" Katara stumbled over Sokka's feet.

"Ouch! Will you pay attention to where you're going?" Sokka snapped.

"Sorry," she remarked absently. "I wonder what form he uses!-- what stances he likes the best. Do you think he's the more offensive type, or would he be defensive? Does he seem a bit tall for a waterbender to you? Maybe he was shunned for his ability to bend with his mind! Maybe that's why he left. After all, he did refer to it as 'freakish', and he didn't sound like he was joking, and I have to admit, it was pretty weird-- but it was fascinating!"

She didn't stop there. Sokka watched her mouth move for about thirty more seconds, and then released his hold on her in surrender.

"Okay, little sis. If you get rammed this time by a guy the size of a mountain because you're not paying attention, hey, that's your rain cloud."


	9. Chapter 9: Intruders

9

Kioki stopped dead in the sand, fortunately on a rather empty street, and Jet had taken three more steps just to turn around.

Taking the twig from his mouth in casual fingers, he stared at her hung head.

"Ki? What's up?"  
She continued to stare down at the dirt for a moment, and then suddenly ran and threw herself against his chest, knocking him off balance.

It was hard to regain his balance because her arms were wrapped tight around his, but when he finally managed to steady himself, he pulled one hand free and ran it tenderly through her hair.

"Okay, Ki. This is really uncharacteristic of you. What's going on?"  
"Shut up," she murmured into his shirt.

"What?" Jet shrugged even though she couldn't see. "What am I supposed to think? I mean-- you're _crying_! What's wrong?"

Indeed she was; slowly she lifted her head, wiping at her cheeks with her wrist. She pulled away from him, clearing her throat and working harder to dry her eyes.

At last she looked up at him, and her expression was one of controlled emotion.

"'_Hem_-- I, um... I'm just... I mean, you know how my aunt is... And last night, well... you know all this, Jet, why do I have to tell you?"

Jet shook his head.

"I'm just saying, you should be happy. If you're going to get what you've wanted, you shouldn't be _crying_, of all things."

"People cry when they're happy, Jet, all the time!" Her lips trembled and she whiped furiously at her eyes again.

"You just wouldn't know, because you're an emotional void!"

He smiled, and went to her. Gently he took her shoulders, pulling her gaze up towards his.

"Hey. I might not act like it, but I do feel. And right now I'm very proud of you. I'm happy for you, except... I'm just not crying."

She sighed a shuddering sigh, and looked down at the dirt again.

"Yeah. I just can't believe I've finally found what Aunt Naoke needs. She's going to be better, Jet. She'll be able to walk with Uncle Hikuro again."

"Sure she is," Jet said. He ran his thumb over a tear on her cheek.

"May I reminisce on the old days?"  
She paused, startled, then glared playfully up at him.

"What?" he laughed.

"You never quit, do you?" she snapped.

He shrugged.

"Do you?"

He leaned towards her but she pushed him away.

"The answer was 'no' a long time ago."  
He reached for her again, but she hurried past his arms, trying not to laugh. He spun around but didn't pursue her.

"All right, fine. Now, please, let's go check on Tyc and the others."

"You're the one stalling," Kioki said, turning to begin down the road, west, towards the back alleys of the city.

He caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, startling her.

"A-hey!"

"Or just taking advantage of the empty streets," he murmured.

But she didn't struggle as he lifted her off the ground and set her feet on his, and took her hands from behind to balance her.

She turned her head over her shoulder to shoot him a threatening smile.

"Walk with me," he explained simply, brightly, and began to walk. She moved her legs with his, balanced in his hands and on his feet like a living marionette-- teetering at moments, but managing to stay upright.

He angled the weed in his mouth and tickled the back of her neck. She yelped, jerking, threatening to pull them both down into the dirt.

"Don't even!"

He burst into laughter.

Sunset collected on the horizon, spilling orange across the sky, and those who saw them only saw two sillouhettes pressed together, melting into it.

Kaz ran up behind the lanky fourteen-year-old and tackled him to the ground.

"Give it, Yurgo!"

"No!" He laughed, rolling over and tackling her back. They tussled in the grass, Tyc stepping casually around their flying limbs.

They continued to wrestle, Yurgo clutching something in a pouch at his belt close to his waist, she trying to pry his arms loose.

"Give it to me!"

She burst into laughter as she managed to pin him, and then released one hand fast enough to snatch the pouch from his belt.

"I'll take _that_, thank you very much."

"Hey! I found it!"  
"You stole it," Kaz said.

"You stole that boomerang!"

"I did not," Kaz said, rolling her eyes. "That was lying in the street. _This_ you took right from someone."  
"Well, she didn't see," Yurgo said. "I'll give it back."

"Right," Kaz said. "Right."

She turned the pouch over in her hands, admiring it's designs while Yurgo lie there in the grass, peeved.

"Okay, you saw it, now hand it back."  
"Hey!" Kaz turned to garnish her face in the sassy-big-sister mode.

"If you want it so bad, you come get it!"

"Don't make me," he said, lifting himself from the grass.

"Oooh, now I'm really scared."  
He charged her, but she snagged his wrist, holding him still. He lifted his other fist to hit her playfully but then paused, and grinned innocently.

"Please?" he tried.

Kaz studied his puckered face for a moment, but then shook her head.

Yurgo swung his fist down hard on her arm.

"Ow!"

"Ah, look, Jet, how cute!"

The two heads snapped east to the new voice-- behind them, Tyc whooped and ran to their side.

"Jet!"

Kioki and Jet stood watching the fight scene with fond smiles.

"Isn't it?" Kaz said, jerking Yurgo's captured wrist behind her back, twisting his arm.

"Aaaahhhoow!" He managed to jerk his wrist free.

"Yurgo's feeling an attachment to this pouch he stole!" Kaz said, lifting it above her head. Yurgo slapped her bangs.

"Give it, Kaz."

Tyc rushed forward and was taken up in Jet's arms.

"Hey, sergeant!" Jet said. "What's up?"  
"You won't believe who we met today!" Tyc exclaimed, beaming.

"Ah, hold on, Tyc," Kaz said, lifting a hand. "That's for me to tell."

"What?" Tyc whirled at her.

"I was the oldest there, I was in charge. I give the account."

"You didn't even do anything!" Tyc turned back to Jet.

"Hey," Jet said, "it's no problem. Kaz, why don't we let Tyc give the low down, eh?"

Kaz rolled her eyes and then shrugged.

"Whatev'. In the meantime, I'll be returning the favor of Yurgo smacking me."

"Hey, hold on--" Kioki pointed to the pouch in Kaz's dark fingers.

"You guys stole that?"  
"Yurgo did!" Kaz exclaimed, shoving the kid in the chest as he attempted to take it.

"Pheh!" Yurgo looked at Jet and Kioki incredulously. "Kaz steals things all the time!"

"Like what?" Kaz spat.

"Hmm, let's think. Oh, yeah, that boomerang that looks like it's a thousand-year-old antique worth about half of Ba Sing Se!"

Kaz glared.

"You are such--"

"Wait a minute," Jet said, setting Tyc down in the sand. He walked towards the pouch in Kaz's hand. Kaz watched his approach and bit her lip.

"Yurgo, I swear."

With careful fingers Jet took the pouch from hers, and turned it over in his hands, studying it carefully. His eye caught one design on it's side, his hands pausing as they followed the strap's length, and a small smile crept his lips.

"What?" Kaz said.

Jet admired the pouch for a moment longer, and then chuckled to himself. Reaching to the cork in the top, he pulled it loose and let a stream of water spill out onto the sand.

"What are you doing?" Yurgo asked.

Jet smirked as he ran his finger over the rim of the hole where the water had drained, and then set it in his mouth to taste it.

"This isn't just anyone's pouch," he said quietly, and then recapped it.

"And that's not just any old water."

"What do you mean?" Yurgo asked, ignoring Kaz's stinging glance.

Jet swung the pouch in his hand for a moment, and then handed it back to Yurgo.

"You're lucky I've drained it, or when you go to give it back --which you're going to, whether you want to or not-- the water wouldn't be in the pouch, it would be all around you, freezing you to a wall or something."  
"Wha?" Yurgo shook his head in confusion.

"This belongs to a waterbender!" Jet said, grinning, taking the pouch back and waving it in the boy's face.

"Hey, we met a waterbender today," Kaz said. "Well, I did. He's from the North Pole, works in that one tea shop that's suddenly a hit these days. Kinda cute, if you ask me."

Tyc grimaced.

"Girls..."

"A waterbender?" Yurgo said in awe, staring at the pouch.

"A pretty one," Jet added mischievously. Yurgo's brow lifted.

"Pretty _fierce_," Jet amended darkly, and tossed the pouch to Kaz.

"I bet you know it because you got wasted by her," Kaz said, putting her hands on her hips after she had caught the strap.

"Leave it to Jet to include that kind of detail."

Jet shrugged. "I might have met her before. Oh, and Yurgo..."

He set a leaderly hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Seriously," he chuckled, "I meant pretty fierce. Please don't try anything."

"You know how Yurgo is around girls," Kaz said sarcastically. "Such the handsome rogue, aren't you, Gogo? Just like Jet."  
Yurgo sold her a priceless look of utter dislike.

Jet pulled back, rubbing his chin.

"Now, uh, I really am going to make you guys return that."

"We'll take care of it," Kaz said, an exaggerated, toothy grin on her face.

"Actually," Jet said, smirking. "I think I'll do it."

Behind him, Kioki snorted.

"What?" Jet said, turning around.

"We all just concluded that she'd kicked your butt on a previous occasion," she said. "And we're running low on medical supplies."

"Don't sweat it," Jet said, taking the pouch back.

"Jeez, give it to me, take it for yourself, make up your mind." Kaz muttered under her breath.

"And did you guys mention a boomerang?" he said, turning to glance suspiciously at Yurgo.

Yurgo pointed at Kaz.

"Kaz, I swear."  
She let out a dramatic sigh of exasperation.

"All right, you win. Fine, whatever. So I stole it."  
"I knew it!" Yurgo exclaimed, leaping in triumph.

"Don't enjoy it," Kaz muttered through her teeth.

"Where is it?" Jet asked.

"I'll get it!" Tyc called, setting off towards the abandoned buildings around them.

"You know, Jet," Kioki said, walking up behind him and resting an arm on his shoulder, "If I wasn't half smart, I think I could notice that you and this waterbender girl have a... past."  
"Well, yeah, I mean, she froze me to a tree!"

Kaz and Yurgo burst into laughter.

"And you would admit to that?" Kioki shook her head.

"You know what I mean."

"I think you mean you're _jealous_," Jet shot.  
Kioki reeled.

"_What_? Jealous for the opportunity to freeze you to a tree, yes, I'd love that--"

"You know what I mean." He stared mischievously in her direction. Her jaw went slack and she could only blink and shake her head.

Tyc returned right on time, Jet breaking his stare with a chuckle and looking down at the boy at his knees.

Kioki folded her arms and continued to flap her mouth like a fish.

"Here you go, Jet," Tyc said, holding up the boomerang.

"Thanks, sergeant." Jet took it carefully in his hands and turned it over as he had the pouch, and then suddenly burst into laughter.

"What?" Kaz and Yurgo remarked simultaneously.

"What's funny?" Tyc put in.

Jet brushed back a lock of hair from his eyes.

"Yurgo, you thought this was worth half of Ba Sing Se?" He looked teary-eyed at the boy, pale and puzzled, standing beside Kaz.

"Uh..." He looked down at his feet.

"Sorta."

Jet drew a long sigh between laughs and finally secured the boomerang in his pouch.

"Hey!" Kaz's arm reached forward, as if unafraid to swipe it back, but then the fact that Jet was her leader cemented her movements mid drift.

"You said we only had to take the water back!"

"Well, I didn't know you had this, did I?"

Jet stroked it's sharp edge.

"I know who this belongs to, too."

"Oh, please," Kioki said, having found her voice, and Jet and the others turned to look at her.

"So what did _this_ psycho girl do to you, hm?"  
"Well, remember the one who froze me to a tree? Yeah, this is her brother's."  
"What?" Kaz threw up her arms.

"What are the odds? They're gonna really hate us, aren't they?"  
"Or think they're cursed," Yurgo added, looking amused.

"Well, I don't think they aren't," Jet said nonchalantly. "They're traveling with the Avatar."

Dead silence. Even Kioki was still. Jet looked at them, confused. They all wore expressions as if they had just seen a saber-toothed moose-lion roar in their faces.

Kioki walked up behind Jet, setting her arm on his shoulder again.

"Really, Jet?"  
"Yeah," Jet said, still eyeing the younger ones warily.

Even Tyc was shocked, and he was usually too happy to be frightened. Jet thought for a moment, and then attempted at one conclusion.

"Don't worry, it's not like's he's gonna hunt you guys down and make you pay-- he's just a kid, trust me, not a real serious threat."

"It's not that," Tyc said cautiously, blank eyes shifting.

Jet and Kioki shared confused glances, and then looked back at Tyc.

"What do you mean?" Kioki asked.

"Tyc's all over tellin' you," Kaz said, she and Yurgo shoving hands in their pockets and angling their gazes towards the sand.


	10. Chapter 10: Wick's First Wink

10

Katara hadn't noticed her missing pouch until the ever-observant Toph had.

"That's strange," Sokka commented, noting Toph's blindness.

"_What_?" katara's hands flew to her waist-- it really was gone.

"How did you know that?" Sokka asked the earthbender slouching on a cushion in their apartment.

"Well, I usually hear the water inside sloshing whenever Katara walks by," Toph said, taking up a fruit from a nearby bowl.

"And this time, I didn't hear anything."  
"What could have happened to it?" Katara looked desperately about where she stood, even ran and opened the door to peer out onto the pavement.

"Oh, don't worry, Katara, you big wuss," Sokka said, mimicking her exasperated tone, "I'm sure it's back at our apartment, shoved under a couch or something! Stop whining, Katara, you're making my ears ache!"

"I'm not whining about it," Katara said irritably, coming back into the house.

"You probably dropped it while you were swooning over that waterbender," Sokka said tastefully.

In the corner, unseen, Aang paled.

"Swooning?"

"I was _not_ swooning," Katara growled. "You can take that and cry over it."

"Sugar Queen swooning?" Toph sounded truly amused. "Well, if I could see one thing, that would be it."

"Oh, quiet," Katara snapped. "I wasn't either. Sokka's just upset 'cause he couldn't keep his butterfingers on his boomerang."  
"Yeah, it was pretty funny when he realized he'd lost it," Toph said, grinning, folding her hands behind her head. "I had the great honor of being there."  
"Aaahrgh, you people are _so_ insensitive to priceless weaponry!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Excuse me? _We're_ insensitive?" Katara responded, incredulous.

"Yeah, c'mon, Sokka, _I'm_ the only one entitled to that description," Toph said.

"I won't argue with that," Aang muttered. He glanced warily at Katara.

"You guys met a waterbender?"

"Yeah," Katara said, her face brightening somewhat. "He works at the tea shop just down in the middle ring, the one that's so popular."

"And he calls himself a freak," Sokka said.

Katara shot him a stinging glance.

"He's being modest. In reality, it's not freakish what he does, it's amazing! Aang, he can bend with his mind!"  
"He can?" The young Avatar smiled. "Wow, did you actually see it?"

"Yep," Katara said, smiling herself. "At times it almost seemed beyond his control."  
"So in other words, he's a clutzy freak," Sokka put it.

Katara's glare was a bash on the head with a steel bar.

Toph grimaced.

"I don't believe that."  
Katara and Sokka turned to her, surprised.

"Why not?" Katara asked. "We saw it."  
"Yeah, well, news flash, bending with your mind is impossible," Toph said nastily. "And water doesn't just dance around on it's own. Despite the fact that it's a frou frou element, I don't recall the last time it had a mind of it's own."

"_Frou frou_?" Katara repeated offensively.

"Maybe it _is_ possible," Aang offered neutrally. "It's pretty cool to think of, being able to bend without having to use stances and forms..."

"That's exactly the problem!" Toph leapt from her seat, glaring empty eyes at the Avatar.

"Without the stances and the forms, it's not bending, is it? It's just nonsense magic. If that circus clown thinks he's freakish, he's got it right on better than I could say myself!"

And she plopped back down and folded her arms across her chest.

"What's got _you_ in a head lock?" Sokka asked.

"_Me_?" Toph leapt to her feet, flaming. "That's it, I'm going to bed. You people are air heads, just like Twinkles here."

And she was in a bedroom, slamming the door behind her before they had seen her cross the rug and enter the hallway.

"Okay, seriously, what's up?" Sokka turned directly to Aang.  
"She's kinda... edgy today," Aang said cautiously, looking down at his feet.

"No!" Sokka let his jaw go slack. "I can hardly believe it!"

Before Katara could scold him, Aang continued.

"We met a bender today to. An earthbender. He was really good at it-- Well, we didn't see him bend, but Toph could sense him all over the earth, and said he was emitting a certain ringing noise. When we confronted him, he seemed indifferent to her... _kind_ request that he please stop bothering her."  
Sokka snorted.

"Personally, I think she's just jealous and worried he could be better than her," Aang finished dryly.

Instantly, the floor shifted dramatically under Aang's feet and he was jerked forward, falling hard on his chin.

"Toph!" Katara scolded.

"Well, sorry!" Aang called into the hallway. "But they had a right to know!"

Sokka chuckled.

"Katara swooning and Toph jealous, a freakish waterbender and a singing earthbender. All in one day. What are the odds. Except the 'Katara swooning' part-- Speaking of which, I wonder how Jet's doing?"

"You wait, Sokka," Katara growled. "When I get my water back..."  
"What, like it's gonna walk up to you on it's own accord?" Sokka snorted.

But before Katara could retort, he suddenly snapped his fingers.

"That's right! We have big news for you guys! _Bad_ news."

Aang's eyes widened.

"What is it?"  
From the hallway, Toph emerged.

"What _now_?"  
"You won't believe this, but the Dai Li have taken over the Locators!" Sokka announced, watching their faces go from curious to shocked.

"We went there to find an address, but after handing it over, they psyched us out and ripped it to shreds! It's a conspiracy-- they're not letting us have any more knowledge than we should, and the Locators are proof."  
"Oh, great," Aang slapped his tattooed brow.

"Well, we can just go storm them," Toph put in.

"No, we can't," Katara said, putting on her leader voice. "We just have to be cautious, observant. We can't let them get the stronger hand yet. And there's something else... The waterbender, Maanyu, was asked by the Dai Li for a secret appointment. The agents used Sokka and I as trustworthy messengers. I think they're up to something."  
"Yeah, they might turn him over to a freak show," Sokka said, but catching Katara's gaze, quickly amended.

"But we've decided to keep an eye on it and see what happens. And if anything goes wrong, we're gonna help him out of it."

"Sokka? Caring about someone other than himself? That's a first," Toph said sullenly from the hallway.

"Hey, I care about plenty of people!"

"Right," Toph said. "That's why you act just like you do."  
"The point is, we're going to need your guys' help," Katara said quickly, shooting Toph a sour look even though she couldn't see it.

"If something bad is going to happen to Maanyu-- and you guys know the Dai Li, so you also know that's totally possible-- then we're the only ones who know about it. He's in the city alone, we have to be there to help him if he needs it."

Aang nodded, determined.

"Of course we will. This might help us foil the Dai Li, catch them red-handed, if our suspicions are right."  
"Yes," Katara said.

"And that could win us a hit with the Earth King!" Sokka grinned to himself. "I'm such a genius."  
"It was my idea," Katara droned.

"This sounds really terrific and all," Toph interrupted somewhat sarcastically, "but need I remind you we're also looking for Appa?"  
The faces fell somewhat ashen, peticularly Aang's.

"We'll find Appa," he said darkly. "But we also have to make sure the Dai Li aren't up to anything. We'll have to do two things at once."  
"Yeah, and the Maanyu thing is kind of temporary, it shouldn't deter too much from our search for Appa," Katara said optimistically.

"Whatever. " Toph shrugged. "I just hope it's all worth the time."  
"It will be," Sokka said firmly. "To spring the Dai Li? Anything's worth that."

---------------

Zuko returned to the tea shop at ten o' clock that night, wishing he could still stay away.

Wishing, as he stared out the dirty window by the counter, that those walls didn't exist. That all these people, all these buildings, would just shrink into pebbles. Mere grains of sand that he could walk right through to the sea. On the Earth Kingdom's belly, Chameleon Bay twisted through, around, and out...

To freedom. To just open sea. Suddenly he was back on his Fire Naval ship, hands against the soft wood rail. He could remember every detail of his surroundings: the smell of the air as it mimicked the waves, churning in flowing currents of wind. He remembered the sound of the waves speaking to eachother, low rumbles accompanied by a satisfied hiss.

Zuko hardly noticed the dishes he was handed by his uncle to wash, the sounds of people leaving, the workers stacking chairs, preparing to close. The soapy water on his hands took him back to the sea. In that moment the wooden floor beneath his feet rocked, cradling the world in a tender waver. The tea shop toppled over a peticularly powerful wave and water sprayed up into his face. He welcomed the salt on his lips, his scar, not bothering to close his eyes. The droplets clung to their lashes. The tea shop settled again on the waves and he turned to look at the horizon he could chase forever...

...The sun was setting, but had not yet began sinking behind the water. It was evening, early evening, the time when the sun was still whispering farewell to the day. A warm audieu...

Suddenly, as Zuko watched in his fantasy, the sea's surface lifted. Great silver waves rose as if at will, stretching up towards the sun so close... Zuko followed their every curve intently, calmly, as their crest opened like arms and encircled the glowing yellow orb, and closed in around it's burning walls as if it were suspended right there in the air.

The great waves continued to drape their churning arms tighter and tighter around the sun until at last they were severed from the rest of the sea, enveloping at last any last glimpse of firey yellow in a smooth, crystalline blanket. The waves continued to flutter, a great, trembling film shifting and revolving slowly across the sun's surface. Even though the sun was hidden in their embrace, it's light still shone through, it's warm blood still painted the sky in sunset. It's fingers still caressed the gentle sea as sparkling lights...

The waves loose about the sun's surface and the sun itself became one. There was no questioning their strange union, no wondering at the harmonic beauty they created. They were one in the same, completely destined to reign forever as a single entity.

Water within fire, fire within water, forever after.

"Zuko!"

Iroh's horrified gasp snapped the image from Zuko's mind-- in that same heartbeat, the sound of shattering porcelain echoed somewhere in the back of his ears...

Something smooth and wet caressed the back of his hand. Blinking, but not shocked, Zuko looked down at his palm...

"Oh, Zuko, no--" Iroh sounded truly mortified--

The water that drizzled in and out of his fingers was steaming.

Zuko was silent. He only stared, rather confused, at what had happened. He studied the scenario, and understood...

The tea pot beside Iroh's hands was shattered, and boiling water was soaking through the wood around the sink.

Zuko's left hand lay directly in it.

He lifted it, staring, suddenly realizing.

There was no pain. He felt nothing, in fact, no temperature at all. It was as if the nerves on his hand had been shot out simultaneously. He lifted his palm to his eyes, and saw no cooked skin. It hadn't even effected his flesh, let alone sent what would have been excruciating pain stinging through his arm.

"Oh, Zuko..." Iroh's lips trembled, his hands wrung at his face, strangely resembling a woman in distress. The fear that choked his voice was slowly fading away.

"What..." Zuko's whisper trailed off, and he looked back down at the shattered pot.

"I dropped it--" Iroh stuttered, reddening, "Zuko, I--"

"Shhh!" Zuko snapped, suddenly aware. He glanced about them fervently, but luckily, no one was within earshot.

"Lee!" he hissed at Iroh cautiously.

"Right-- sorry--" Iroh bit his lip, looking around too. He looked back at Zuko, calming slightly.

"Are you all right?"  
"I'm fine," Zuko said irritably, and snatched up a towel to absently wipe his hand dry.

"But--" Iroh seemed too stunned, or perhaps to afraid, to speak. "That-- that was boiling water. You-- It should have burned you--"  
"Uncle, we bend fire," Zuko whispered in the old man's face. "We haven't ever been burned by water!"

"Yes, but that happened too quickly for you to react and bend!" Iroh whispered back, brow raised in anxiety.

"Look-- relax, Uncle, there's nothing abnormal about this."

Zuko pulled away, scowling, and rolled his sleeves back down from his elbows.

"I'm going to bed. Good night."  
"Good... good night," Iroh said, sighing.

He watched his nephew walk off, forgetting the shattered tea pot.

_No_, he thought. He knew. _There was something else._

When Zuko pulled back the covers of his bed, he found a bronze coin set alone atop the sheets, and as he turned it over disinterestedly in his fingers, saw the elemental symbol of fire on one side, of water on the other.


	11. Chapter 11: End of Part One

11

Kioki leaned back against the walls of the surrounding buildings, watching far off as Jet rounded up the children, chiding them to get to sleep. The moon hung drowsy in the air, setting a poor light on the streets. They happened to be in an open space so more star and moonlight would touch their grass, turning it deep blue. The sillouhettes of the people she knew moved about, their voices traveling timidly in the silent darkness. Jet's voice stood out among them, his shadow the tallest by far, outlined in silver, his smile visible even from where she stood.

At last Kaz, Yurgo, and Tyc's figures could be seen scampering for the back walls of the buildings. Against the great rear wall of the city, they resembled enemy bandits sneaking in to rob the alleyways.

She hadn't realized Jet approaching her before he was in arm's length.

"You coming or what?" his tone was playful, kind, as always.

Her hazel eyes were large in the darkness, brilliantly bright, like Kaz's were in the daytime against her nigh black skin. They shifted to gaze at him, no mystery, no humor behind them.

Only exhaustion. She was tired. Not because of physical exertion, but of mental.

"I'm gonna go visit Uncle Hikuro and Aunt Naoke. Probably spend the night there."

Jet nodded. "All right."  
She stood up from the wall, unfolding her arms from her bosom.

"Will you walk me there?"  
"Of course."

He came to her side and took her hand just because he could, squeezing it. She sighed in his closeness and together they departed into the sleeping streets.

Minutes passed. They weren't traveling fast, but her aunt and uncle's home was not far. Their steps were slow, peaceful... heavy. Her charismatic stride was slowed in speed but it still was consistent. The playful shifting of weight from one hip to the other, a carefree, almost strut that marked her so well.

Jet sensed the heaviness of her steps, the flicker of mischief at a loss. Trading her fingers to his other hand, he slipped his now free arm around her waist, prodding her gently to lean against his shoulder.

"What's up?" he whispered, for the silence required whispering.

"Nothing," she murmured back, sighing, her eyes glazed and sleepy. Sad.

Jet followed her gaze curiously to the house slowly rising on their horizon. A window inside was lit. Her aunt and uncle assisted the Locators for a living-- they were always last to shut down, last to douse the candles, for they guarded the nighttime streets of their neighborhood... at least, her uncle Hikuro did. Her aunt Naoke...

"It's like this every time I come here," she said softly, drawing his attention back to the crown of her head. He realized the 'it' was her spirit, her mood, and 'here' was the home the traveled to.

"I just haven't been able to stand erect ever since Aunt Naoke fell sick. It's like I'm sick with her. And then the possibility of losing her... knowing I was _going_ to lose her? The only person who's ever treated me like a daughter? It's scarred me. And even now, when I've finally found the cure... when I'll be getting it tomorrow... it's like a dream. I'm waiting for myself to wake up. I'm waiting for it all to wash away again, for everything to become lost. Like everything always does."  
And she slipped out of his arm, turning to her right, and drifted off. They had reached an open courtyard lined with lamps, sporting a great fountain in it's center.

The Firelight Fountain.

The lamps had been doused already-- it was merely a dark clearing of stone. Hugging herself, she crossed to the fountain and sat on it's edge, looking down at the lamps atop the water, into her reflection. The fountain had been stilled too-- no water ran. It was silent, undisturbed. Her reflection was as clear as if it were staring up at her from perfect glass.

He watched her for a moment, hands in his pockets. She rotated her body and lifted her legs, setting her feet atop the stone edge before her and draping her knees in her arms.

Casually he made his way to the rim, sitting sideways before her feet and twisting to look at her.

"You know, Ki," he said softly, glancing down at his knees because she didn't look at him, "there's nothing wrong with that. It's just a reaction. It's almost spontaneous. We as human beings don't feel emotions-- they come and rouse us. You're just... still adjusting, that's all."  
She let out a long sigh, and looked through her elbows into his eyes.

"I know."  
"You do?"  
"Yeah. It sounds like something you would say. You've taught it to me just in the past few weeks we've known eachother, by being yourself. I just wish... your life could be fuller, so you could see the way I function too. You could relate to it."  
"Oh, believe me, Ki, I relate to it." He set one hand atop hers. "Do you think I came to Ba Sing Se just because that's where everyone else was going?"  
She smiled. "No. You don't fall to peer pressure, Jet."

"I came because I was being attacked by emotions, and the only way I knew how to face them was to get away and start over."  
"But I don't want to start over," Kioki said, her smile fading quickly. "I want to fix what's happened. I'm going to. I'm going to heal Aunt Naoke."  
"I believe you are, and that's wonderful. That's what I'm trying to tell you. You act as though it's wrong to feel what you're feeling, when really, it's what's helping you. Helping you take a stand."  
She nodded, looking back down in the water... and he was struck suddenly by the length of her eyelashes...

"Kioki."

"Hm?"  
"Put your legs down. Please?"  
She looked at him for a moment and then obeyed, sitting sideways as he did.

In one motion he had moved to her side, and for a moment he only gazed curiously at her, and she at him. There was something new about her that he could not describe, and would rather leave just as a mystery, a dream. Studying her gaze, drifting over her features, he lifted a finger to stroke the line of her jaw.

"Jet, you're so lost," she murmured, a smile hinting at both their lips, but he only shook his head doubtfully.

"Nah. Not really."

"No," she whispered, their noses brushing. "I mean really."

His chin lifted, passing her own, and he leaned into her to plant a tender kiss on her eyelid, amazed in his own mind at what had lead him to do so. Her lashes fluttered, brushing his lower lip, and he would have been happy to just stay there forever.

But she wriggled away, laughing to herself, cradling her head in her hands.

"Okay, _no_." The irony and humor in her voice was warm and familiar. The old Kioki was back, and it made him grin. Her chuckling subsided to just a tired smile, and she rested her brow in her palm.

"Jet, you're just so out of this picture, I can't even believe I know you--"

He was only right beside her again, but before he could do anything, she turned and held out her arms in defense.

"Jet, I'll push you in the fountain," she laughed. "I promise, I will."

He only laughed.

"Okay, here's what you've been asking for!" she said in her mirth.

He moved to defend himself but he was too late-- she shoved him in the shoulders and his torso fell over the edge; he managed to catch himself on his arm, his hand hitting the bottom of the fountain and splashing water up onto his neck and face; however his arm was rigid and supported his weight.

She got up, laughing, and began to exit the courtyard. He managed to balance himself and then, after a few attempts, was able to use enough force to lift his arm and all the weight atop it from the water.

"Good night, Jet," she called from the entrance.

He rolled up his wet sleeve.

"Good night, Kioki," he replied, smiling disappointedly to himself.

She turned the corner and was gone, leaving her eyes in his mind for his company.

When Kioki approached her home, she could hear her uncle Hikuro moving around in the kitchen, the sounds of dishes clanking, his grunts and coughs. She smiled smally to herself and gently opened the door.

"Uncle Hikuro?"  
The home was one story, with only so many rooms. Small and humble. A sitting room to her left meshed into a kitchen and dining room at her right. Right before her, a single hallway to three bedrooms and a bathing room.

At the far end of the kitchen, where the sink was located, a massive man stood. The black hair on the top of his head was beginning to wane. His back was slouched, outlining powerful muscles in his shoulders that could crush a boulder without earthbending it.

The great man turned, the floor creaking under his weight as he did. Down his chest and belly, a long beard was braided and tucked into his belt. His small, piercing eyes widened when he saw her and a warm smile brought dimples to life on his scraggly cheeks.

"Ki!"

She met him halfway from the door, wrapping her arms as far as they could reach around his waist and letting his colossal arms wrap about her, lifting her off the ground in a genuine bear hug.

"Hello, Uncle Hikuro," she murmured from his shirt that was dirtied from his grunt work. She felt no fear in the crook of his massive arms: only the affection of a dinosaur.

"I was hopin' you'd come by," he said sweetly, setting her down. She stumbled a bit under his beefy hands, and then shone a smile into his face.

"I came to spend the night. May I?"  
"Of course, what are yah thinkin', askin' a question like tha'?"

"Thanks, Hikuro," she said. "May I see Aunt Naoke? There's something I have to tell you both."  
The large man stared deep into her eyes, searching them, until he found the heavy seriousness that made her hug just a little less affectionate, her smile a little less genuine.

"All righ', Ki," he said. "Sure. She should still be awake."

Draping an arm around her shoulders-- nearly enveloping her in bulging bicep-- he lead her down the solitary hallway, to the very end, where one closed door loomed.

They shared a concerned stare before he stepped back to allow her to enter first. Opening it carefully, she entered, and could see the room was dark but for a single candle on a stool beside the entrance.

Taking up the whole of the room was a bed. Hikuro cautiously behind her, Kioki crossed the room to the bed's side. Inside, wrapped in blankets, a middle-aged woman lay. She would have been breathtakingly beautiful, had illness not sucked the stun from her features. She was a mighty woman-- an earthbender, yet she lay there helpless as if a broken assembly of limbs. Her hands and faced were blanched white as snow, and her lips and fingers trembled under dews of perspiration. Her eyes were glazed, drooped, and her hair had not been kept for months. It was scattered about her as a disarray of black shaping a facial structure now bony with the loss of strength.

Her watery, bloodshot eyes turned up towards her niece's as Kioki knelt desparingly at her side, taking one of her frail hands in her own two and cradling it as carefully as though her fingers were a butterfly's wounded wings.

"Aunt Naoke..." she whispered, forcing a smile, yet the harsh emotion that clouded her eyes did not falter too much.

"Kioki," the woman breathed, her voice parched and empty of tone. She too forced a smile, lips spreading like wet tissue, just as soft, just as fragile. Just as lifeless...

"Oh, Kioki, it's so good to see you."

Kioki leaned forward to kiss her aunt's wrinkled forehead.

"I have something to tell you, Naoke. You and Uncle Hikuro."

She made a chocked coo of interest.

"What is that, sweetheart?"  
Kioki pulled away, turning to Hikuro. He stood in the back beside the candle, uncharacteristically wringing his hands.

"Tell us," he prodded gently.

Kioki nodded.

"Aunt Naoke, Uncle Hikuro..." she gently stroked her aunt's knuckles... "I've found the cure for the illness we've been fighting. And I'll have it here tomorrow, before sunset."

Silence. She stared into Hikuro's eyes first, seeing only indecipherable joy and unbelief... She looked at Aunt Naoke, and even her afflicted features had shaped the expression of jubilation.

"Kioki--" Hikuro came weakly to her side, and took her shoulder.

"Kioki... is this true? Have you really?"

"Yes," Kioki said. And though the two beside her were bursting with gratitude, with shock, with joy... her eyes remained dark. She turned away, so they would not see the darkness shape her brow in a glare.

"Yes. I have. And I _will_ get it tomorrow."

She turned back to look at Naoke. Her glare was gone, but the harshness remained.

"You _will_ be well again, Aunt Naoke. I promise you."

END OF DAY ONE

Well???!! I know what you're thinking, This is supposed to be a Zutara fanfic?? I promise you, it is!! Just please hang on and keep reading! I'm really enjoying this, I promise this is all necessary development. Zutara will triumph! Thank you so much for reading guys, reviews are cookies!! (yeah, that was a lot for Day 1, but it actually was just one day lol)

-Jeccelo


	12. Chapter 12: Part Two

Part Two will definitely get the Zutara ship steaming. Thanks so much for reading guys! There's so much to anticipate in the future parts, pleaz bear with me thru all the plot turns lol- Also, you're not gonna wanna miss one moment of Suki and her friends. Lesson one: learn to kick trash!!

------------------------

PART TWO

-----

12

The sting of cruelty fueling the princess's narrowed gaze was something Suki wanted to forget forever, yet it lingered on in her mind as an emblem of destiny.

_This is how it's going to end. I've failed the Avatar. _

_Forgive me, Sokka. _

The sounds of Lisyyun and Yushura beside her awakened her mind for an instant from the deadly golden eyes of their conqueror to the stabbing roughness of the rocks below their skin. All around them, the walls of the cave sang their defeat. Not the slightest whisper of dripping water could be heard-- the cave was a never ending stone, just stone.

Suki closed her eyes and tried not to give in. Tried to cling to hope.

The rough, thick binds about her ankles and wrists did no help. They were the jaws of wolves, the scraping, clawing whines of a beast's hunger. The skin against which they rubbed was raw and cracked. She made the mistake of shifting her feet, the two things she could. The rope tore at her skin one more time and this time the flesh tore at last-- blood tricked as a crimson tear down her ankle, to the heel of her foot.

Atop that, the contortionist had severed the blood flow in their pressure points-- they law limp as dead fish, and the ropes only ensured that when their body broke free of the paralysis, they would still not know movement.

"I hope you find your new stay comfortable," a cold, oh, so cold voice said from the entrance to the cave.

Suki lifted her chin to stare at the looming sillouhette. It's shadow was cast over her eyes, forbidding her a last look at the sun before she was put away forever.

The Fire Princess sickened them with a twisted smirk.

"I am terribly sorry. There are alternatives, I'm sure, but I just don't have the time to carry prisoners right now. I have an bison to catch. Thanks for all your help, though."

_No. _Suki's teeth crackled as they were grinded together harder and harder... she stared desperately at the cave entrance, as if the mere resolve of her stare would somehow free them.

_No. _

This is what it felt like to be so helpless...

The two other Fire Nation women appeared beside their Princess, hands on their hips. Their faces were indecipherable with the sun at their backs. Soon the Princess moved from the cave entrance, so that her face was also indiscernible.

The princess's two tallest fingers came together gracefully. Suki watched in horror her body move the powerful motions of chi summoned- Blinding blue light gathered about her, moving as a current subject to her will, illuminating her hands and chest. A deadly hum and the crackle of cooking energy vibrated across the walls of the cave... Suki's last sound of the outside world she loved...

The princess' fingers were thrust upward, and screaming tongues of lightning shot from her glowing nails. The discharge collided with the crest of the cave-- dust and debris clouded the entrance for a moment, and then silence followed.

The princess stepped back.

"Let's go, girls," were the last words Suki heard, before instantly the entrance crumbled into three massive chunks of stone, splitting and collapsing down on top of eachother. The rumbling was deafening. The two warriors beside her, in her same predicament, thrust their heads down as debris skipped through the air towards them.

Suki only lay there, staring, watching her world be closed away from her forever.

When it was all over, there was only the darkness of the cave, and the sound of her breathing.

Azula crossed the grass to the Kyoshi garments they had stripped the warriors of. Green and black dresses flourished with delicate patterns, headdresses of gold, stockings, boots, and gloves fit for battle.

Ty Lee had been giggling over the crumbling cave for some time now, when at last Mai's gaze of death had shut her up. Azula set her weight and stared for a moment at the clothing, despising it but hiding the fact rather well.

"Ugh," Mai groaned, coming up beside her.

"Ohh, how pretty!" Ty Lee said gleefully, kneeling down beside the dresses.

"Pretty revolting," Mai grumbled, turning to Azula. "Please. I'm catching on to your plan. Tell me we're not wearing these."  
"Oh, it's just for a while," Azula said, smirking, and she bent down to take one in her hands. Holding it up before her eyes, she studied it for a moment before bringing it against her chest, and observing the length.

"That should fit you," Ty Lee said cheerfully.

"Is there one a lot bigger?" Mai asked. "If I'm lucky I'll drown in it."

"_You_ better wear this one, Ty Lee," Azula said, handing it over to her. "I'm not one to squeeze."

There was a moment of silence while Azula bent to pick up the second, and then Ty Lee laughed.

"Oh! I get it. That means you're too big for it, Azula!"

"Charmed," Azula said, doing the same with the second. After a moment she nodded.

"This will do fine."  
"I am so writing this down," Mai droned. "Princess Azula fashion shopping."

"All part of the larger scale," Azula said simply. "Mai, put that one on, quickly. We'll seek out their encampment and find they're face paintings."

"Oh, good," Mai said, leaning down to pick up a dress by her long fingernails, so as to avoid making contact between her flesh and the fabric, her lip curling in disgust.

"I like stealing things."

"Then your hands will at least enjoy themselves," Azula muttered, and quickly began removing her hardest armor.

"We'll hide our armor here, and once we're done at the Earth Kingdom, we'll come back to get them on our way to the Fire Nation."

Mai stared for a moment, doubtful, and then shrugged.

Ty Lee was too fixated at the "pretty" patterns to react.

"Armor, now," Azula snapped, shoving the dress with her foot, waking Ty Lee from her trance.

"Oh, right!" the girl said excitedly.

Mai sighed.

"This is going to be the flight of my life."

---------------------

The sun had risen. It baked Zuko right through his blankets, and he growled as he realized their was sweat trickling down his face.

Wrestling himself free of the sheets and blankets, he managed to swing his legs over the end and rest his head in his hands, letting the sun pound on the muscles of his back and shoulders.

He had seen it again, in his dream. The waves that left the sea to embrace the sun, the flawless unity they created. It wasn't irritating, and definitely not inspirational. In fact he realized he felt no emotion towards the vision, actually. If that's what it was.

"Or just a dumb dream," he murmured to himself, rising to his feet. The hems of his pants hit his feet as they unraveled, previously shoved up in the position of his slumber.

He thought for a while as he crossed the room to the private bathroom. What was the sun made of? Fire. It was the source of firebending, the heart and soul of the Fire Nation itself.

And yet, after being in Ba Sing Se for this many weeks...

He realized he wasn't fond of the sun. Not at all.

Since leaving the Fire Nation, he had grown more and more sensitive to it's blazing heat.

No, he realized. Not since leaving, since _severing_ himself from the royal family. Since the day he and Uncle Iroh cut their hair to symbolize independence. Before, in those three years he had sought the Avatar, he had labored in the sun gladly, welcoming it's power, longing to receive as much as he could.

The summer was coming. Now, he found himself dreading it. It was hot enough all ready-- the humidity in this region of Ba Sing Se was unbelievable, equal to the Fire Nation's. Suddenly the sun was no longer a symbol of power, but of labor, of exertion. Effort and exhaustion and hurt. Pain. It burned his eyes... He touched his burn scar...

The sun had hurt him... terribly.

He blinked to dispel the thoughts, irritated at how fluently they seemed to invade his mind, and found himself reaching into the wash basin to feel something ice cold and devestatingly wonderful on his flesh.

Water.

He closed his eyes, sighing. It felt truly marvelous against his perspirating flesh. He recalled days of childhood when the rain would fall around the palace, and while everyone else retreated inside, he would remain outside, happy to soak in the coming storm. Never understanding why Azula and the others fled the water's touch.

He bent lower, bending his arms to rest his elbows in the basin too. The water sent chills of relief up his shoulders, and he hung his head, letting his bangs touch it's surface. Just being this close to it resulted in relief-- he could sense it's coolness as a mist on his brow, and he lowered the crown of his head into it's embrace. The water, now lightly disturbed, quivered around his eyes. He remained there for a moment, content, until at last the gentle waves at his eyelashes couldn't be passed up and he plunged his entire face into the basin, bringing it down, in, up, and out in one fluid, satisfactory motion.

Rising up, he open his mouth to sigh and felt the droplets of water curve around his chin and ears, small streams tracing the muscles in his neck.

He felt the sea again. It was so spontaneous, it surprised him. Suddenly the water on his face was saltwater. Suddenly the waves that rose to embrace the sun flooded his closed eyes, engulfing him.

Suddenly, he was the sun.

He could see the ocean below him, see the waves that would leave their fellows to take his outstretched hands. He smiled down on them, welcoming them. They rose at his invitation and took him in their arms. He was enveloped in their coolness, their softness. They stroked him with a tenderness he hadn't felt for so many years...

_"Zuko, my love, listen to me... everything I've done, I've done to protect you..."_

His heart opened to everything, ever tender touch he had ever felt...

_"Remember this, Zuko... No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are..."  
_They flooded his awareness, ecstatic to be uncovered...

_"If we knew eachother back then, do you think we could have been friends too...?"  
"Zuko, I can help!"_

This last voice crashed over his head in the largest wave of them all, swirling about him, threatening to drown him. He clung to it, mystified by it's gentleness, yet it was bold with a strength and a sureness that he wanted so terribly for himself...

_Zuko, I can help..._

_Zuko..._

_I can help..._

The moment of the superior wave's embrace faded.

_"Then you should rest. A man needs his rest."  
"It's okay... they've hurt me, too."_

_"I know what you've been through... we've all been through it..._

_...The Fire Nation has hurt you..."_

The waves faded... the taste of salt began to drift away...

_"I thought you had changed!"_

He had never heard it before but it blasted the world on top of him. The waves closed in on him, holding him tighter and tighter, fighting for the warmth of his flesh, seeking to cool it--

_I thought you had changed!_

_I thought you had changed!_

The water entered his throat, his lungs. The waves around him were all he could see-- he was falling, being buried in their thriving storm--

_I thought_

_I thought..._

_you..._

_changed..._

_Whenever I would..._

_imagine..._

_the face of the enemy..._

_imagine_

_the face of the enemy..._

_it was your face_

_your face..._

_your teacher..._

_suffering will be your..._

_"You will learn respect. And suffering will be your teacher!"_

Fire, such perfect, such bright, blazing fire swallowed the waves in it's eruption.

The fire threw back it's head and roared it's victory.

And Zuko awoke, crashing to his knees, coughing steam onto his face.

There was only the hard, wooden floor, and the burning sun beating against his back from the window.


	13. Chapter 13: Vicious Grin

13

All that morning Iroh felt as if the issue of Zuko's health was prodding him with a red-hot iron. He watched his nephew closely, every move he made was recorded in the old man's mind. He had heard Zuko fall down earlier that morning. However, he had stayed away, hesitant to interfere with whatever was happening.

Because he had a feeling it wasn't natural.

This morning Zuko seemed the exact opposite of Iroh. Instead of alert, maybe even irritable, it was as if he was still dreaming. His eyes were glazed, his mouth puckered questionably, his expression vacant. Iroh flashed wary glances over his shoulders every five minutes as he brewed tea with the other half of his mind. He studied his nephew... watched...

At long last his distracted mind lead to another accident much like the night before-- He continued observing Zuko until at last he could take it no longer, and motioned for his nephew to come to his side.

The first thing he realized were Zuko's bloodshot eyes. They were glazed and distant, and when they returned Iroh's stare, they seemed to be staring right through his head at the wall behind him.

"Zuko... I've noticed..." Iroh absent-mindedly wrung a towel in his hands. "How are you feeling this morning, nephew?"  
Zuko's eyes narrowed. His mouth traveled to speak but no sound came out. Iroh waited, concerned yet not backing down. Not fearing Zuko's reaction.

"I..." Zuko's voice was incredibly hoarse and he cleared his throat before staring again. He glared down at the ground, teeth grit tight together.

"I am fine, Uncle," he hissed. "Now will you _please_ stop worrying about me?"

It was all Iroh could take. He glared, a low growl escaping his throat.

"No, you're _not_ fine, Zuko."

He hadn't realized his knuckles were white until the towel between his fingers burst into flame under the pressure of his stress. Startled, he threw it onto the stove, looking at his hands warily.

But before he could move to snuff it out, a long whip of water shot between them and silenced the flames like a slap on the mouth. The water hissed against the charred towel until it was pulled back, a blue snake drifting up into the air.

Iroh and Zuko turned and saw Maanyu with his hands poised in stance, a look of alertness in his slanted blue eyes.

"Thank you, Maanyu," Iroh said quietly. "I must have... dropped it too close to the burner."

Maanyu curved his fingers and the water whip leapt back towards him in a graceful stride. Zuko watched irritably as it folded into itself like a ribbon, and then sank into his palm to disappear entirely.

"No problem, Mushi." He didn't smile, but looked after their disgruntled expressions with one on the brink of suspicion.

Iroh sighed. "I'll go get another towel. Sorry to bother you, nephew," he added bitterly and turned to exit the counter space.

Zuko watched his back until he had disappeared into the employee doors, and then turned about sharply.

"You didn't have to put it out," he grumbled to Maanyu. "We had it under control."  
"Forgive me, then," Maanyu said smoothly... darkly. He and Zuko's eyes met and Zuko was taken slightly aback by the intensity burning behind the boy's bright irises.

"I won't interfere next time."

Zuko stared at him for a moment, and then Maanyu turned with his tray and strode off.

"Good," Zuko snarled at his back.

Iroh ran a weary hand over his balding brow, sighing heavily to himself. Absently he rummaged through a variety of baskets, looking for an extra supply of towels. Through it all, Zuko's dream-stricken eyes lingered in his mind. He remembered the sound of his nephew crying out, his knees hitting the bathroom floor. He remembered what self control it had taken to not roast the door then and there and rush to his aid.

_This is a spiritual matter_, he told himself. _He must face it, with help from me at times, but overall he must face it alone._

_But how can I help in those times when I don't even know what's wrong?_

He moaned after yet another unsuccessful basket, and grumbled something about the organization of his employer.

Suddenly, there was light.

It came from behind him, accompanied by a faint ringing, but it's glory and brightness wasn't something he could overlook. Turning, he stared into it, entranced by it's beauty. It floated there in the air, the faint ringing sound emitted from it's core. It was the purest white he had ever seen, and yet it seemed vague, dimmed, as if blocked by a sort of veil. Iroh's hand extended, and he closed his eyes. He took a step towards it, feeling it's power, wishing to discover it's secrets.

When his first step hit the ground, it was not wood beneath his feet, but something soft, and... sticky.

Opening his eyes, Iroh found himself in the marshlands of the Spirit World.

He inhaled in awe, looking around him. He remembered it well-- the trees lifting into a skyless atmosphere, distant, illusional mountains behind arms of swirling mist. The Spirit World's warm air welcomed him, entered his body, soared through his chi. He suddenly felt weightless, exhilarated.

He breathed deep, savoring the perfect tranquility of the place.

"Hm. Come again, I see."

A bouncy, heavily accented voice caught his attention, and he turned calmly to look behind him at it's source.

A baboon, legs and hands crossed in meditation, peeked out at him through one opened eye. Iroh recognized the expression all too well.

"Hello, Pathik," Iroh said cheerfully.

The baboon spread back long lips in a wide grin, revealing pearly, pointed teeth. Instantly his personage shifted, morphing in one fluid, quit motion, until in his place sat a thin, bald man dark of complexion, a large white beard down a wiry chest, and the same broad grin on his face.

"It eez good to see you, Iroh, my old friend," Pathik said, and stood to clasp his hands together. Iroh followed suit, and the two shared respectable bows.

"I thank you for bringing me here," Iroh said. "I have... much need to counsel with the great spirits."

"Please, don't tenk me," Pathik said simply. "It is she tat has summoned you."  
He extended a hand, and Iroh followed his fingers to where they directed.

"Ah," he murmured, a gentle smile spreading his lips.

"The Moon does look beautiful tonight, Pathik."

A young woman, tall and slender, shining as brilliantly as the light Iroh had seen, emerged from the foggy air. Her grown was great, and flowed freely at her hands and legs, like tendrils of white smoke. Thick tresses of long, snowy hair cradled her delicate face. She was devastatingly beautiful, with large turquoise eyes and puckered pink lips.

Princess Yue smiled when she saw Iroh, yet there was a lingering sorrow in her eyes.

"Iroh of the Fire Nation," she said. "I'm glad you have come."  
"It is by your invitation, and your power, that I have," Iroh said, standing and bowing. "Thank you, great Moon Spirit."

"I have brought you here because there is something you must know," she said. Her voice vibrated in the air as if channeled through a tunnel. It was soft and harmonious, yet lurking with sadness, as did her smile.

"As the mother of water, I know of everything that transpires concerning my element. What I must call to your attention is not necessarily bad news, but it could have ranging effects on your nephew, depending on how it is treated."

"I am willing to accept any knowledge you have to give me," Iroh said humbly. "I'm afraid I'm at a loss of what to do. I can sense something is wrong, but I did not think it involved you, great Moon Spirit."

"It involves many people," a new, deep voice said. This voice was as cold and crisp as a winter wind, and seemed to echo the same way Yue's did.

The Moon Spirit did not turn. Pathik and Iroh glanced curiously over her shoulder, watching as another large figure began to appear from the mist.

This shadow grew in width and length, taking Iroh by surprise, until it stood twelve feet high from the murky swamp ground. When it emerged from the mist, Iroh was not surprised to see a giant insect curve in a graceful gesture of greeting.

Koh's large, clawed arms-- two of many that lined his belly-- clicked in awareness. The face he presented was round and painted chalk white, eyes drooped in elegant amusement, and his ruby lips were bent in a small, drowsy smile.

"Iiiiroohh," he droned pleasantly. His tone carried a frigid breeze across the syllables he spoke, a predator's behavior.

"No need to hide your emotion from me, my friend," Koh assured him slyly. "I have no power over you, Dragon of the West."

"I know, old friend," Iroh said, bowing his head respectfully. "You are still pursuing face-steeling, I see. After centuries of snatching features, I would think you'd have a wide enough collection to consider retirement."

Koh's great body twisted as he threw back his insect neck in chilling laughter.

"Tis not a pastime, my dear friend the Dragon, but the purpose of my being."

"Hmph," Pathik muttered to himself. "Where do all t'ese beings even come from?"

"The Moon Spirit," Koh said, "has called you here on a very important matter, one we can all contribute to."

"Tell me," Iroh said to the girl. "What ails my nephew?"  
"Iroh," Yue said slowly, "do you why the Avatar is able to master the four elements, and why ordinary benders are not?"  
"Well.. the Avatar contains the four types of chi inside his bloodstream, one for each element," Iroh said as if reciting from a scroll. "Based on a state of mind and body, he is able to influence whichever he choses. But the four types of chi are not separate any longer after he masters all of the elements: they combine, mesh together, into one current of power. All those born with the gift of bending are blessed with the four types of chi. But only the Avatar has the instinctive ability to combine them."

"Yes," Yue said.

"Has something happened to my nephew's chi that is effecting him physically?"  
"Physically and spiritually," Pathik replied. "Your nephew has developed a rare case of de Clash."

"Clash? I've never heard of such a thing," Iroh said, looking at Yue. She explained.

"When the Avatar masters all the elements and his four types of chi become one entity, this is called a Union. They balance eachother out, until no distinguishing can be made between them, for they share one life. But a Clash..."

"The case of a Clash has not happened in the last eleven centuries," Koh said, his voice carrying the most power and tone of the other spirits.

"In the heart of the planet, all things are recorded. The words we speak, the actions we deliver, the feelings of our heart. The elements-- water, earth, fire, and air-- are the sources of emotion. While they give physical powers to benders, they are a conduit in which every human being will express emotion. When the planet receives two very similar emotions from two children of opposite elements, it will test them, sending back a responsive feeling to see how the two children will react to it."

Pathik finished. "If the two reactions are one in de same, a bond is forged in their chi. The child of one element will be strengthened in the element of the other child. They do not possess Avatar skills, and so the new strength in their chi clashes with their original one. A Clash."  
"So..." Iroh looked down at his folded hands. "My nephew has been given this test?"

"Apparently," Yue said quietly, "Prince Zuko has faced a similar trial of another bender, one that is a bender of his opposite element, water. The planet has tested them with this trial, and they have both genuinely responded in identical ways. Zuko's blood carries a Clash with his opposite: water. He is bound to this other child, bound to face the same destiny."

Iroh sighed, nodding.

"Should he know?"  
"Yes," Koh said instantly. "And understand. A Clash is very serious-- without knowledge of it's existence, he could be lead to do something unwise. The spark of water inside his fire will taken influence in his behavior, his dreams..."

"I think it already has," Iroh said heavily.

"If so, t'en you must tell him today," Pathik said. "He must be v'warned."

Iroh nodded.

"I was the first to discover the Clash," Yue said. "I sensed my child Water enter a strange universe. The water is alive, and frightened, and is taking out her fear on his memories. He will see things he has already lived, things he wants to forget... things that have not yet come to pass."  
Iroh's gaze flickered to hers. Her gaze was serene and stone-like. Firm.

"Moon Spirit..." Iroh began, looking down at the swampy terrain, and then back into her shimmering eyes.

"You mentioned he and this other child of water would share the same destiny."

Yue nodded. "Yes. This will be left for them to decide. Once they discover the purpose they share, they will give their all to fulfill it."

Iroh nodded. "So they must interact."

"It is vital that the two bound together by a Clash know of the connection they share," Koh said warningly. "The longer they go one without knowing, the longer it takes for destiny to unravel itself."

Iroh stood.

"I must get to Zuko now. Thank you, friends, for your wisdom."

Taking his fist in his hand, he bowed deeply. The Spirits followed suit.

"Good luck, Dragon," Koh said. He began to slink away into the darkness.

"We will wait for you safe return." Yue's brightness waned, fading into the mist.

When they had completely vanished back to their personal realms, Iroh turned. The baboon he had first encountered sat cross-legged where Pathik once had, eyes closed in meditation.

Iroh smiled smally.

"You look better as a baboon, you know."  
"Pffph," the baboon snorted, one eye cracking to squint at him.

Iroh closed his eyes, feeling the world shift about him. Light blazed against the surface of his eyelids, and as it began to fade, he could feel solid wood beneath his feet.

He opened his eyes and surveyed the employee's room.

The basket of towels sat before him on the floor. He stooped down to lift one out-- it was covered in swampy slime.

_Oops! _the baboon's voice remarked, a whispering melody echoed and swept on the air.

--------------------

Zuko felt his uncle's hand on his arm and nearly jumped, thus nearly dropping a tray of tea orders.

"Uncle!" He sighed. "Don't do that again."

"I'm sorry--" Iroh glanced about, looking for a free waitor. At last he reached out as one was passing and snagged his shirt.

"Excuse me, Freij, could you take care of my nephew's order for him? I need to steel him away for a moment."

The boy looked stunned but then nodded.

"Of course, Mushi..."

Zuko was confused too but didn't hesitate to hand his work over to someone else. He turned to look at Iroh.

"What is it, Uncle?"  
"Prince Zuko, there is something you must know," Iroh said. "Come with me."

He let go of his nephew's arm, trying to act as casual as possible, and then lead him back to the employee's room.

Once he had shut the door and locked it, he turned to look at his nephew. He looked profoundly confused and a little annoyed, and he leaned back against a shelf and his his hands behind his back uncomfortably.

"Tell me," he said quietly.

"Zuko..." Iroh sighed, not certain he would believe him, and then shrugged it off.

"Zuko, I've been to the Spirit World, and the spirits there have revealed something to me."  
Zuko only stared for a moment, golden eyes narrowed in confusion, and then he shook his head.

"Uncle... no one can just _go_ to the Spirit World..."

Inspired, Iroh reached behind him to retrieve the cloth soaked in the swamp's slime, and, handling it by his fingertips, displayed it before Zuko's horrified face before tossing it too him.

"Ugh-- hey!" Zuko was forced to catch it, and he stared down at it in disgust.

"Uncle, what is this?"  
"Wait for a moment. Can you feel it's power?"  
Zuko stared at him as if he had finally snapped but then his face was drained of color and he stared down at the cloth in his hands. His bender instincts flooded to it's might-- his chi began begging for every drop of energy contained inside the sticky mess.

"That's the, uh... natural side of the Spirit World," Iroh said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Zuko snorted.

"So I've noticed."

"So do you believe me when I say I've been there?"

Zuko sighed.

"I can feel something, all right. I guess that's proof."

Iroh smiled.

"That's good. But Zuko... the rest of this will not be easy for you to hear. It may anger you."

Zuko paused, looking up at him, and then with a hint of disdain dropped the cloth into a nearby basin.

"Just tell me," he whispered, eyes downcast in conflict.

Iroh did. Every word Koh had said, every word Pathik and Yue had said. He related everything he could remember, trying his hardest to put the best face on all of it. It shaped the mystery in a light that would appeal, not frighten.

Apparently, his efforts struck luck somewhere in the middle.

When he had finished relating the information, Zuko's face was blanched, yet there was not the hot, blind fury in his eyes that Iroh had dreaded.

In fact, there was nothing in his eyes. They were completely glazed over, as if no life clung to them at all.

"Zuko?" Iroh was part concerned, part mystified.

Zuko began to groan, his brow arching in fear.

"Mom..." he moaned, and sank suddenly to his knees.

"Zuko!"

Iroh rushed forward, but then stopped himself. His hands screamed to catch Zuko's shoulders, but he remembered what the Spirits had said, what he had concluded in his own heart.

_This is Zuko's destiny._

Zuko's hands hit the wooden floor, catching himself, and he hung his head, breathing heavily. The exertion of his breath told Iroh whatever had happened inside his mind had passed.

"Zuko...?"  
Zuko shook his head slowly, as if trying to clear water from his ears, and then sat upright on his heels.

"Uncle?" he turned in bewilderment to meet Iroh's eyes. His were bloodshot, as they had been earlier that morning.

"Zuko... did you have another vision?" Iroh asked.

Zuko instantly glared.

"I had no vision!" he snarled, and rose to his feet.

"I... I just..."

"Zuko," Iroh said placidly, standing with his nephew, "the more you deny it, the more delayed your destiny will become, until at long last it will cease to exist."  
"And?" Zuko snapped. "As if it hasn't already? There isn't anything left, Uncle. There is no future for me, no past even. How can some dumb legend about chi fix everything that's happened to me?"

"Because it's not a legend, it's real," Iroh shot back. "Look at yourself, Zuko! You're trembling! You had a vision this morning and now another one here that caused you to collapse! Think about the theme of your visions, Zuko. What are they telling you? You cannot deny what has happened!"  
"What's happened is far from decipherable," Zuko said, glaring. "I can no more read these crazy visions than I can bend water."

Iroh's spirits sank.

"Zuko, you _can_ bend water!" he said desperately, ignoring the flame that erupted in Zuko's eyes.

"You _have_, can't you see that? Last night, when I spilled the water on you and it didn't burn you! It's because you were _connected_ to it, your fire and the water are one in the _same_, why can't you accept that?"  
"Because it's not true!" Zuko cried. "Don't you dare make me believe that a gift has been forged in my heart to make me worth something! I won't accept that now I have a destiny just because of someone else and their influence over me!"

"It has nothing to do with the other person who shares your connection, or any influence they have over you. It's the decisions you've made, the trials you've faced. You've earned this destiny, Zuko. Now is your time to take it, and use it for your benefit!"

Zuko growled and turned away.

"I want no more to hear of this, Uncle. Not one more word."

"But, Zuko--!"

"No more!"

And he shoved past Iroh and out of the room, out of Iroh's presence...

...Out of his destiny.

--------

**A\N**: as Pathik would say... be v'warned: the info in this chapter is not what it might seem.


	14. Chapter 14: The First Candle: Acceptance

14

THE FIRST CANDLE

**A\N:** Sorry if you're thrown off-- I had to combine chapters 10 and 11 because they were both too short. so if you run into text you've already read or the numbers get you mixed up, sorry!! I fixed it all so it makes sense, blush sorry try to find your place!

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The weather was not like it had been yesterday. Instead of blazing heat, the sun and it's light engulfing half the sky, it was pleasantly overcast, with the brisk scent of a coming storm in the air. A gray light settled on the atmosphere- Kioki preferred it to the blinding sun. She was starting to worry she would get tan lines were the skin under her eyes was folded because of having to squint so much.

Chaonui's Haven was not alive and boisterous with children as it usually was-- the gloomy weather had scared some people away. And it was a Sunday, so some people would be attending religious practices. The streets were emptier, the shops quieter. With that on top of the weather, the city was like Ba Sing Se's alter ego.

Chaonui's Haven happened to be an outdoor cafe as well as an indoor diner, and today Jet and Kioki were the only ones seated in the outdoor complex. It was small, no more than twenty double-person tables. Kioki and Jet had combined their seats on one side, leaving two open on the other side for Jin and her new boyfriend.

Kioki leaned back casually, no annoyance or impatience in her movements, and rested her elbow on Jet's shoulder, folding manicured fingers against the side of her head.

"So how exactly do you plan on doing this?" Jet asked quietly.

"With pleasure," Kioki replied smoothly. "I will ask for the fire peacefully and respectably. If he refuses, you will draw arms against him and take it by force."

She lifted a mug of tea to her lips, eyes calm yet fierce over the rim.

"That's it?" he asked.

She smacked her lips. "That's it."  
He sighed. "All right. I like it."

"Good," she said, setting down her mug. "Because you don't really have a choice."

A heartbeat passed, and suddenly Jin's voice lifted in the air. Jet turned in his seat and saw her approaching, leading Lee by the hand.

"Here they come," he said.

"So I've noticed."

She turned in her seat as well, and a robotic smile spread her lips as she met Jin's eyes.

"Sister! I'm glad you came."

"Hi, Kioki," Jin said cheerfully. She glanced at Jet, her smile retreating shyly.

"Hello, Jet."  
But he wasn't looking at her. He was looking past her, where Lee lingered, still tied by her hand.

Lee was looking at him too. A wind picked up, ruffling the bangs on their brow. Kioki smirked to herself, watching Jet and Lee stare at eachother in rising shock. Jin blinked, checking herself as if something she wore appalled Jet, but then realized he was not looking at her. Her eyes passed from Lee to Jet, back to Lee.

"Lee?" she asked quietly.

Lee's eyes shaped a disdainful glare. His unscarred eye flashed dangerously.

Kioki glanced at Jet. His glare was not as treacherous, but more... of confusion. Shock... realization.

"You," Jet breathed, staring at him. He immediately growled, rising from his seat.

"You! I remember you!"

"Now, now, Jet," Kioki said, taking his sleeve. "_That_ step is our _alternative_, remember?"

Lee's glare was like steel but for some reason he remained strangely placid, calm. Surprisingly he stepped around Jin and tugged on her hand, leading her towards the table at which Jet and Kioki sat.

"Hello, Jet," he said softly, sitting opposite him. Jin sank slowly down beside him, still staring at them worriedly.

"I--" Jet stared at Kioki, fury burning in his eyes.

Kioki raised her brow, shrugging.

"I remember you!" Jet shot at Lee, outraged. "You were going to infiltrate the city! You landed me in with the Dai Li!"

Lee only stared iron at him, tense in his seat but calm compared to Jet's rising ire.

"You're firenation," Jet finished icily, furiously, his hands fisted on the surface of the table.

"Jet--" Jin began, cut off by a loss of breath. She blinked, rising horror choking her voice and face. "Jet, what did you say?"  
"He's--" Jet bore his teeth, cut off suddenly by Kioki's hand on his shoulder.

"I promise you, Jin," Kioki said calmly. "We'll get this all cleared up right here and now."

Jin panted in her shock, staring at Lee.

"Is it true?" she whispered.

Lee didn't look at her.

"What do you want from me?" he asked Kioki coldly.

Kioki smirked.

"Thank you, I appreciate people who like to get down to business," she said. She leaned forward, folding her hands.

"You have something I need, and you're going to give it too me."

Lee's eyes narrowed.

"What's that? My identity?"  
Kioki chuckled.

"Not exactly, but I like your idea. Actually, you're closer than you think."

The humor was lost from her eyes like the snuffing out of a candle, and she stared straight into his soul.

"Fire. You have a special fire in your blood that carries unique properties. I'm going to ask for it nicely."

Lee's brow lowered, his eyes staring out between a wall of bangs like the deadly tips of two swords.

"I have no unique fire."  
Kioki didn't flinch.

"I've heard a lot about you, Lee," she said simply, raising an eyebrow. "Or should I say... Prince Zuko?"

Jet leapt to his feet.

"I knew it, I just knew it! Who else would you be? Why didn't I see it?!"  
Prince Zuko's eyes flashed, and it seemed he would lose the composure he had collected, but he didn't. His jaw tightened, ignoring Jin's gasp entirely.

"Lee-- you're--no--" Jin shook her head frantically, and glared at Kioki incredulously.

"Is this what today was about?" she cried. "A confrontation?"

"No doubt he's ripe for one," Kioki shot back coldly.

Suddenly Zuko leapt to his feet. A searing ring struck the air-- two flashes of silver was all they saw before he brandished the broadswords before them, their light reflecting in the burning fire of his gaze.

"You want my fire, you come get it."  
The sound of swords being whipped from their place replayed: Jet stood ready as Zuko did, hooked swords crossed before his face in an offensive manner.

"No need to tell me twice," he snarled, and leapt over the table. Zuko was ready for him in a graceful twist, bringing his blades hard against Jet's, right over his neck.

Jin jumped to her feet, horrified, as Kioki crossed the sand calmly to Zuko's side. He and Jet stood pressing against the other's force, glaring the steel in their hands right into eachother's souls.

"Now, listen, Zuko," Kioki said calmly, but there was a threatening edge to her voice.

"If you hand over the fire now, all this dirty work can be avoided."

Zuko glanced at her, his gaze death.

"I don't know how!" he hissed. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Kioki snapped.

Jet yanked his blades free, attacking again. Zuko twisted and turned in defense, their blades ringing in and out of the cafe tables. Jet's offenses lead them out of the cafe entirely into the back alleys that rimmed the Haven's complex. Kioki and Jin followed them, Kioki controllably, Jin in the theroes of horror.

"I can't believe you would do this!" she hollered at her sister, tears brimming in her eyes.

"I can't believe _you_ would do this," Kioki replied, staring at her. They stopped in their tracks. Jin shook her head hopelessly.

"I didn't know," she whispered.

"Oh, you didn't?" Kioki spat. "That's right. He asked you to close your eyes that night, didn't he? Come on! How did you _think_ all those lamps at the fountain were suddenly lit? _Magic_?"  
And she passed her by, leaving her to gawk and wallow in her own despair.

Kioki approached the edge of the alleyway, watching the two boys fight. Each held skill that was exceptional. They were evenly matched, she could see that. Jet's rugged movements of offense were harmonized against Zuko's swift, almost soft motions of defense. Zuko's style was decisive, stealth. Like fire. It was aggressive when it needed to be, but it was wise. It consumed so much without wearing itself out.

"You know, I thought you were a liar at first," Jet snarled as they came to clash together and hold, "but I never thought you were a coward too."

Zuko growled, sending him back with all his strength and coming at him this time in attack. Jet's eyes widened, surprised, and he moved quickly to defend himself.

"How am I a coward?" Zuko hissed.

"You refuse your own being!" Jet spat back. "Who is more pitiful than someone who won't accept they have power? Who won't _use_ it?!"  
Zuko struck again and again, harder and harder, each time weakening and strengthening himself. Jet's words pounded in his ears, made his blood boil to maximum potential. The strength of his fire was released in fumes of steam rising from the tips of his blades. Sparks shot out in brisk hisses as he and Jet's swords collided. Jet's eyes widened as he watched the sparks shower about their fingers.

At last a round ended, forcing Zuko back towards the dead end of the alley way, with Jet and Kioki erect at it's opening. He stared at Kioki, having had enough of Jet, and saw something in her eyes. A sparkle of mischief, something unreadable yet he understood it perfectly.

An alliby.

_Give me the fire, and I won't have you turned in for your identity._

An alliby that was also a threat.

The light and dark side of her gaze clashed horribly with his heart-- he fought to control his hands... to think of an alternative...

There was none.

The swords hit the dirt ground in defiant thuds; his legs spread in a powerful stance and he swung forth his arms with all his might--

A massive wreath of fire sprung from his arms, roaring towards his offenders. Kioki dropped fashionably, legs spreading in a flexible straddle, whereas Jet leapt in a flip. The fire skinned the tips of his blades as it passed underneath his hands, it's heat melting away all the lies and deceiving that had brimmed he and Zuko's interactions.

He landed hard on his knees, and watched for Zuko to prepare another blast. But he didn't.

He stood stared at Jet, poised to bend, but holding his flame.

"You can't run from it like that forever," the prince said coldly. "I've won. Give up and get away from me."

"You haven't won anything!" Jet roared back. "You think I can't stand up to your bending? Go ahead, see for yourself what I can do!"

Zuko pulled back his arms and sent another blast of fire in his direction. The flames licked the alley walls, threatening to melt them. Jet barely bypassed this one, leaping with his legs spread, the fire reaching to singe the fabric of his shoes. He soared over the blast to land right before Zuko, bringing his swords down as hard as he could.

Zuko stopped them with his very arm shoved before his face. He glared at Jet over his elbow.

"It'll take more than Kong Fu and some fancy firebending to stop me," Jet snarled.

"You know my policy, Zuko," Kioki called, rising to her feet.

"I know it," Zuko said. "And I refuse it!"

Kioki sighed, her lip curling.

"Suit yourself."

Jet's swords rang in another attack, coming to crash with Zuko's as the prince moved to escape.

"I'm not letting you go," Jet hissed.

"You don't have to," Zuko said. "I'll go by myself."

Jet growled and struck again. Zuko's swords glowed red as they struck his. Jet's eyes shot wide in shock.

"Are you sure you're as fire proof as you say you are?" Zuko snarled.

"More than sure!" Jet struck again. A plethora of sparks accompanied the chime of their blades, scalding Jet's knuckles.

"Argh!"

"Lee! Jet! Stop it!"

Jin had appeared at the entrance to the alleyway, eyes wide with tears.

"I will when he does!" Jet growled.

"And I won't," Zuko replied icily.

"Lee?"

This was certainly not Jin. The voice was soft, fragile. Four heads turned in startlment to the entrance of the alleyway.

A girl stood beside Jin, cloaked and hooded in bronze, a delicate face peering out from the brim of the hood. Soft white hands lifted to remove the hood-- her large, amber eyes stared out at the duel in shock.

Zuko's eyes flickered, his heart nearly stopping.

"Song?" he breathed, confused.

Kioki saw it instantly. She didn't lose a beat. It only took the look in the girl's and in Zuko's eyes to tell a forgotten tale of connection.

And it worked for her.

Before anyone else could make a move, Kioki's hand leapt to Song's arm. In one fluent motion she had jerked the girl towards her, pulling her roughly against her chest--

--and placing the tip of a dagger against the crevice of her throat.

"Kioki!" Jet cried, forgetting Zuko for a brief second.

"Lee, help me!" Song gasped, too frozen with fear to try and break free of Kioki's grip.

Zuko seemed frozen in shock as well, not even noticing Jet's swords fall away from his.

"Kioki, what are you doing?" Jin cried from behind.

Kioki's blistering hazel eyes stared straight at Zuko from beside Song's wrenched head. She pressed the tip of the dagger deeper into the girl's skin. Song's breath caught in pain.

"Give me the fire," Kioki ordered.

Zuko blinked. "You won't..."

"Don't try me," Kioki replied coldly, forcing Song's head back even farther and pressing the dagger harder.

"Kioki, let her go!" Jet exclaimed. "You don't even know who she is!"

"I know enough," Kioki snapped, her eyes never leaving Zuko. "Give me the fire _now_."

"Lee--" Song begged, shaking, "Lee, please--!"

"You can't bargain a life," Zuko rasped. "You can't."

"I already am," Kioki snarled. "Without that fire, the only person that ever loved me is going to die. Now give it to me, or I won't hesitate to hurt her!"  
Zuko stood there, his muscles slowly regaining strength. Despair crept into his heart, closing over it in confusion. The injustice of the situation boiled in his blood-- he tried desperately to find a way out, anything-- but there was none.

She wanted fire. And not just any fire-- she had made that clear. What other fire was inside him? He wanted to cry out, but he had lost his voice in shock.

Suddenly, waves crashed down on his mind. The glistening sea swirled before his eyes, more valiant and glorious than he had ever seen it before. The waves parted as always, lifting up towards the sun, embracing it, enveloping it in beautiful strength. He felt their salt surround him, felt it sting his eyes, felt their coolness wash over his skin--

And he firebent. He didn't know why. It was a spontaneous reaction-- fire sprung to life in his senses, beckoned by the water's cool grasp.

He opened his eyes. A flame sat suspended in his palm, the size of his hand. It glowed a gentle cream color, with a dim orange light at it's core. The core seemed to tint it's entirety-- the cream sported a hazy blush. It looked as soft as the wax of a candle, floating there without heat above his flesh.

In fact, it wasn't warmth he felt but the cool freshness of the sea.

He reached out to touch it--

--it was wet. An invisible layer of water surrounded it, perfected it's existence.

The awed silence was broken.

"Bring it to me," Kioki whispered.

Zuko looked up at her-- she was staring at the flame with a desperate hunger, a sadness, that sent chills over his arms. Blindly he made his way to her, displaying the flame, not knowing how he had found it in the first place.

The hand Kioki held on Song's arm was released, and reached out to touch the flame with fearless fingers. The dagger remained poised at Song's neck.

Her fingers drifted into it, passing through it's coolness, feeling it's power.

"It will heal her?" she whispered, almost unconscious of the world around her.

"I..." Zuko couldn't respond. He had no idea what it was, let alone what power it held, but there was a familiar warmth about it that seemed to stroke him with assurity, until it's secrets flooded his mind as easily as if he had known it all his life.

"Yes," he murmured.

Her head rose-- their eyes fastened in stunned realization, in hope, in confusion. She looked back down at the flame, and the dagger was slowly lowered from Song's neck.

The girl fell away from Kioki, stumbling in fear, and Jet was forced to steady her.

All eyes were pulled to the flame, as it was transferred from Zuko's palm to Kioki's. Kioki acted as everyone would-- she extended her fingers and closed them around it, and suddenly it was a solid form that she could lift from Zuko's hands. It's light did not cease-- it illuminated her fingers, shining through her skin. When she removed one hand, it glistened with wetness.

She immediately looked at Jet, somewhat recovered from her amazement.

"Jet, come."

Jet nodded, speechless as they all were.

He stepped away from Song, approaching Kioki's side, reaching out to stroke the flame's smooth surface.

Kioki's eyes swam. She looked up at Zuko, and a question formed in her gaze that he couldn't read.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice distant, of a dream.

To him, her voice was the wind's as it fluttered the ocean that swam before his eyes.

He looked out in his mind at the burning horizon and saw the flame in the place of the sun, burning gently there inside the translucent waves that embraced it.

He fell to his knees, and his world became black.


	15. Chapter 15: The Second Candle: Action

15

**A/N**: OK I need to know!! In the last chapter, did Kioki seem out of character when she said 'Thank you' to Zuko?? I'm not worried about the threatening-Song part, i'm just a little unsure about her "thanks". is that Kioki? Did Zuko deserve it, was it necessary? What do you think!!? Thanx so much guys for reading this far!!!!

Yeah, so this one took me all day to write. It's by far my longest, but it doesn't linger, at least not in my opinion. Reviews are cookies, tell me what you think!!

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Iroh had assumed the luncheon had gone well. Jin had been rather ecstatic, with Zuko strangely looking forward to it. He had seen nothing peculiar about any aspect. In fact he was feeling quite cheerful himself, having almost forgotten about the issue with Zuko's Clash.

But, unfortunately, assuming is never the most rewarding action.

He had just handed Maanyu a tray of orders. The tea shop was surprisingly empty-- he guessed it was because of the peculiar weather; some of the tables and seats had not even been set up. Maanyu was the only waitor needed-- and the only one that was even there. It sometimes seemed Maanyu lived at the tea shop; he was always there, available. Iroh knew little of him; he had been such a charming boy that he hadn't bothered to nag him with the peticulars of his home life.

Today, however, Maanyu seemed dazed. When he approached Iroh to take the orders Iroh noticed his eyes were bloodshot, as Zuko's had been that morning. Because he was Maanyu and not Zuko, Iroh felt at liberty to ask,

"Are you feeling all right today, Maanyu?"  
Maanyu sniffed, rubbing at his eyes.

"Er-- no, actually. I think I've come down with something. I really shouldn't be here, it could spread..."

"If you feel you need to go home, you're more than welcome," Iroh said. "Lee should be back soon-- he can take over."  
"I don't think it's that serious," Maanyu replied nonchalantly, forcing a smile. "I just didn't get much sleep, that's all. It's feeling really temporary. I'll be fine in a few days."

"If that's your judgment," Iroh said, "I'm glad to hear it."  
"Thanks, Mushi."

It was another issue dismissed, or at least settled for the time being. So that was another reason why iroh was so shocked when Zuko actually came back as early as he did.

The bell on the door chimed as it was opened-- no one looked up to greet the newcomer except Maanyu and Iroh, it being their jobs.

But it certainly wasn't a customer.

Zuko stood before them, an expression of exhaustion and irritation splattered over his face. At his side were two girls, one of them immediately recognizable as Jin, the other that took a moment to become familiar to Iroh...

...then he remembered. It was Song, the girl they had run into while in the forest, who had tended to him after he had eaten a poisonous plant.

Despite the fact that he had brought two lovely girls back to the shop, it was that he had a hand tightly over each of their mouths, and seemed to be holding them hostage in his arms, that was the most startling trait of all.

"Lee?" Iroh found words a lost luxury he could not conjure.

The girls' eyes were bordering horror and dismay, and part confusion, though they did not seem to struggle against him at all. Song had her arms erect at her sides while Jin was clinging to Zuko's wrist like a lifeline.

Jin made a sound of fright behind Zuko's hand as he directed them quickly to the back of the tea shop. Many customers lifted their heads, watching incredulously.

Iroh leapt to Zuko's side, while Maanyu was frozen where he stood, watching intently, and with warring expressions on his face of amusement and offense.

Zuko attempted to brush past Iroh, but he was caught by the sleeve.

"Uncle--" he was out of breath and sounded weaker than ever.

"Lee, what's going on?" Iroh hushed, realizing Maanyu was still in earshot.

"Nothing that can't be resolved," Zuko said quickly. "Please, let me through."  
Iroh stepped blindly to the side as if his movements were controlled by a separate mind, and watched as Zuko huddled the girls still trapped within his elbows into the employee's room.

Iroh turned to glance in shock at Maanyu, who shrugged, looking humble in ignorance. The old man caught a glimpse of the customers-- they stared at him and the employee's door, looks of shock that rivaled his own.

Iroh chuckled nervously, nodding cryptically to them, and turned in the blink of an eye to rush in after his nephew and his ladies.

After making sure the door was locked, he turned to see Zuko hesitate to release the girls, looking at the opened window.

"Uncle," he said urgently, exhaustedly, nodding towards it.

Iroh sprinted across the room to thrust the window shut, then turned quickly back to Zuko.

"Nephew--"

"Please, Uncle," Zuko said, "don't make this more difficult than it already is. Let me handle it."  
Slowly his hands slid off the two puckered mouths. Jin instantly stood away from him, facing him with fists clenched at her sides.

"Lee... it can't be true. Please."

"What is it?" Iroh asked.

"_Uncle_," Zuko snapped. He looked at Jin.

"I'm not sorry for it, Jin. I'm sick of being sorry for who I am, for thinking my identity is imperfect. You can either take that or leave it. But I'm not denying anything."  
"So at the fountain..." Jin's eyes brimmed with unshed tears. "You really used fire bending... just for me?"  
Zuko sighed. "Not for you."  
Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Oh, _not_ for me? Well, _what_ then?"

"I don't know," Zuko said. "I just..."

"I mean... did you have to _lie_ to me, Lee?"

"Yes," Zuko said firmly, staring at her. "Of course I did. But I'm not going to now."

"So you didn't trust me, is that it?" Jin's tears formed a glare.

"Yes," Zuko said. "I guess so. Listen, Jin, what would you expect? I didn't even know you then! And you think I would tell you what could get my uncle and I banished, or killed?"  
"I thought I was important to you! _You_ were important to _me_, Lee! Or should I call you Zuko now?"  
"Nothing is more important right now than me and my uncle's discretion," Zuko said. Iroh stared at him, and it seemed Zuko himself paused to wonder at his own words.

Jin only stared at him, tears beginning to drift over her cheeks.

"I _am_ sorry that you had to learn the truth this way," Zuko said. There was a hint of sympathy in his eyes, but his entire gaze, even his posture, was purely rational.

She reached up to wipe her eyes on her sleeves.

"I'm sorry too, Lee," she said, and moved for the door.

Zuko flinched, taking a step forward.

"I'm not going to tell anyone," Jin assured him, reading his mind. The two men stared at her. They knew she was telling the truth.

"Don't worry. You and your uncle have been very kind to me, it's the least I can do. I still like you, Lee, but I can't live this lie with you. Good bye... good-bye for a long time."  
Zuko didn't say anything as she opened the door, closing it roughly behind her as she left.

"Jin..." Iroh cooed, his hand extended, and then he sighed.

"Zuko... what happened?"  
Zuko turned, and it tore at Iroh's heart to see no regret at her departure on his nephew's face. Zuko's glistening eyes glanced at Song-- she had remained silent, standing a couple paces from him, her hands wrung at her breasts.

"It doesn't matter now," Zuko replied, catching her gaze. They stared at eachother for a long time, until Zuko looked away.

"We're still safe."

He glanced cautiously at Song. She was staring at Zuko with a helpless fright, sadness, that didn't fail to stroke his heart, but still didn't shake his resolve.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave," Zuko told her. "Not while there's still a chance you could give us away."  
"What?" Iroh glanced at him. "We... Zuko, we can't keep her here--"  
"She knows, Uncle," Zuko shot back. "We can't risk it."

"You don't have to assume everyone thinks the same of the Fire Nation," Song interjected nervously.

Zuko and Iroh turned to stare at her.

"Even so," Zuko said after a moment, "you'll have to come with us until we judge you're trustworthy. I'm... sorry to burden you with this."  
Song sighed, dropping her hands.

"I... understand."  
Zuko and Iroh stared at her in shock, expecting a terrified girl's temper tantrum. "I can't even trust myself," she continued heavily, her voice cracking with coming tears.

"I don't want to convict you," she said, looking up at Zuko, holding his gaze. "But I've learned so much and so little that... I wouldn't know how to act when a time of critical judgment came."

Zuko nodded slowly. Iroh still looked flabbergasted.

"Well, you'll come to our apartment," the old man said quickly, comfortingly. "At least there we have a spare bedroom where you can stay. Until... Zuko feels... you're ready to leave."

His whole voice was doubt.

------------

Rain began to fall. And not just drizzle-- it fell in sheets. A perfect, writhing wall of water encompassed every person on the streets. Thunder slapped the gray afternoon fondly on the back while lightning danced miles away over the sea.

Zuko felt the heat of that lightning, it's power, in the very tips of his fingers, in the strands of his hair.

He, Song, and Iroh walked shoulder-to-shoulder into the rain. Iroh was escorting them to the apartment before returning to work. While cloaked and hooded in rain-repellent robes, they looked like a trio of monks out to worship on the street corners. The dirt roads were turned to mud, and Song's unfamiliarity with the terrain sent her sliding twice, each time snagging Zuko's arm to catch herself. Zuko could feel his bicep whine as the minutes passed of holding Song upright.

After a few minutes they approached a corner where a collection of shops sat; Iroh pulled them off to the side of the streets, in the protection of the shop tarps, and told them to wait while he quickly bought something.

"Sorry," he had said over the sound of the pouring rain, "I've been procrastinating my mother out of her grave-- I have to make this stop before I talk myself out of it again."

"We'll wait," Zuko replied softly, and Iroh's round figure bounced off into the storm towards the steps of the store.

Song had not let go of his arm, but he hardly noticed through their soaked cloaks. His gaze turned her direction, to his right, to survey a few people out in the streets. She only gazed up into his golden eyes, worry stricken over her features.

After a brief moment he met her gaze, and they found the only choice they had was to stare at eachother, until at last Song found words.

"I've been looking for you, you know..."

He blinked. "You have?"  
She nodded. "For a couple days. Yesterday some nice kids helped me get your address. I went to the tea shop, and a waitor there named... er... Maanyo I think, told me you had gone somewhere, so I left to look for you. That's when I found you in the alleys behind Chaonui's Haven... with those other kids."  
He sighed, half chuckling at Maanyu's missed name. "I guess you were directed right."  
"I..." she wet her lips, though they were already slick with rain water. "I want to apologize."  
He stared at her, blinking water from his lashes.

"What?"  
"If I hadn't been there, you... you wouldn't have had to give away your fire."  
He found himself utterly speechless. She looked up at him and misunderstood his eyes.

"I'm really very sorry--" she said, feeling her throat close. "I-- You must be so angry with me--"  
"Song."

She stared up at him, and he struggled to explain, to pour out everything, but nothing came. He realized it wasn't something that could come spontaneously or even planned when under a tarp in the middle of a storm.

"I'll explain when we get to the apartment," he said. It was all he could say.

She only nodded.

"Okay."  
As if cued, Iroh appeared, clutching a package against his chest, trying to protect it from the rain with the length of his sleeve.

"All right, you two, let's go! We'll try to move a little faster-- I don't think this rain is giving up without a fight."  
They followed him back into the mud, and the storm that plagued it.

-------------

The apartment room was gloomy and cold, and Iroh had not even taken off his cloak before he leapt to the fire place and discreetly bid a flame to life with the twist of his fingers.

He and Zuko moved about, hanging up cloaks, pulling up furniture... Song remained at their door, waiting to be bid, watching them bustle. Iroh went to the kitchen counter and placed his package down, brushing aside an assortment of other utensils with his arm first.

When Zuko had finished placing cushions before the fire, he motioned for Song to sit. Nodding, she carefully made her way to the carpet now glowing from the fire's growth. She sat humbly, pulling her knees up to her chest and running a tired hand over her right shin.

"Well, I'll leave you two here..." Iroh said distractedly from the kitchen counter. "I need to head back to the tea shop. Miss Song, if there's anything you need, Zuko will be happy to tend to you as his first priority."

Zuko grimaced. Iroh shot him a long, expecting glance.

"Thank you..." she said quietly. "Erm... would you still prefer I call you Mushi?"  
Iroh's eyes widened for a moment, and then he chuckled.

"Oh, no-- please, call me Iroh."

"Iroh," she said, smiling softly. "Thank you, Iroh."

"You're most welcome," he said. "I hope we can get you home as soon as possible."

She sighed, resting her chin on her knees. "I hope so, too."  
Zuko, who was removing his outer jacket, glanced warily over his shoulder, watching the shadows of the flames dance on her gently curved back. He looked away quickly, disgruntled.

Iroh left the package, whatever it was, to sit on the kitchen counter and then made his way to re-cloak himself.

"Be careful, Zuko," he said softly.

Zuko raised an eyebrow questionably over his shoulder.  
But Iroh had already locked the door and closed it behind him, cutting off the loud hissing of pouring rain.

Zuko sighed, turning away, and bent over to shake droplets of water from his hair. When he flipped it back up, his damp bangs stuck to the surface of his brow, sticking to his lashes. He had to part with his fingers a way for his eyes to see through.

He turned and looked at Song. She sat silently, staring into the fire, watching it burn.

"So you're prince of the Fire Nation," she whispered, but he could hear her.

Placing his hands in his pockets, he cautiously approached her side, not bothering to sit down.

"That's just a title, you know."  
She looked up at him, and the fiery glow on her face cast a spell of memory over his mind.

"Of course."  
Her following silence bid him continue, and he lowered himself gently to the cushion some distance to her left.

"I was banished from the Fire Nation, because I refused to face my father in an Agni Kai."  
She blinked, and he caught her gaze, explaining.

"A firebending duel," he said. "Specifically."  
She nodded.

"Oh. Why were you to face him?"  
Zuko looked deep into the flames, his eyes narrowing as they were stung by it's heat...

...but not for the first time...

"You don't have to tell me," she said quietly, looking away.

"No," he said. "I was just... remembering. One of our generals was going to sacrifice an... _ignorant_ battalion of Fire troops while his more experienced men used that distraction to penetrate a victory. I opposed the plan, thinking it unjust and cold-blooded. I challenged the general to an Agni Kai, because of the consequences that followed. See, I wasn't permitted to speak. I thought I would be facing him, and wasn't afraid."

His cheek brushed gently with his knee as he lowered his face, still gazing into the fire place.

"But it wasn't him," he finished heavily. "It was the Fire Lord I was to fight."  
"Your father..." she whispered.

He didn't say anything.

She bit her lip, looking down.

"Is that when you..."  
She couldn't bring herself to say it.

In his mind, Zuko recalled the sound of his own scream. The intensity of his own pain.

For who's else could he recall?  
"Yeah. That's when I got my scar. As punishment. I was branded a coward, and banished, sent to restore my honor by bringing my father the Avatar."

She hiccuped, wetting her lips.

"I'm... so sorry."  
"So am I." He closed his eyes, feeling the fire, tired of seeing it.

"But I've recently abandoned that path for... certain reasons. My uncle, and several recent experiences, have helped me realize much.."

She looked at him, her brow inclined in a hint of empathy.

"I got my scar when my village was raided. I had a cousin that was killed at the same moment."

Zuko opened his eyes, lifting his head and gazing at her.

"I was thirteen," she continued. "My cousin Tsaliyn was with me: she was nine, I think. We were in the forest... I don't remember what we were doing. But in the distance we could hear ostrich-horses approaching. In our ignorance, we thought it was the men of our village, returned from the war. We went out to meet them..."

"But it wasn't them," Zuko finished gravely.

"Yes," she whispered. "The Fire Nation troops immediately attacked us, not caring that we were just children, harmless. I was burned badly on my leg, while my cousin was shot by one of their archers. I assume they suspected we were spies at first, but once they learned we were just kids, they didn't hold their attacks."  
"They had already hurt you," he whispered. "They were attempting to hide a mistake."

"I guess so..."

"But it's terrible, and heartless, that they would do that. Sometimes I hate what my country as done to other people. I see the darker side of my nation... of my family."

She turned to stare at him.

"It must be so hard for you. Compared to your experiences... I'm really not anyone to complain."  
"Everyone has their own levels of suffering," he replied distantly, quietly. "My destiny is to face this. I have a duty to fulfill. You... you were just hurt."  
She swallowed.

"I don't look at it that way. I think you were hurt, too."  
He remained silent for a moment, gazing harshly into the fire, and then stood.

"Would do like some water?"  
She nodded.

"Yes, please."  
He made his way over to the kitchen. She looked back at the fire, watching the flames play as small children with their playmates, listening to the sounds of his movements.

"I'm not angry that you interfered with the duel today," he said from the kitchen. She didn't look at him, but listened intently.

"I was so amazed when I saw you-- and then when Kioki threatened your life. It was my fault. I'm sorry you had to endure that, and were almost hurt because of my stubborness."

When he returned, he handed her a small, round, wooden cup. She took it carefully, feeling the flesh of his knuckles stroke her palms as they exchanged it. He sat where he had been previously, and began to drink heartily. She took a few thankful sips, feeling energy flow back into her again.

"But I've overcome that stubborness now," he continued. "Thanks to what happened... it's opened my eyes to things. Will you forgive me?"  
She smiled gently.

"Yes."  
He didn't smile, but there was a gratitude in his eyes.

"So how long have you been in Ba Sing Se?" she asked quietly.

He looked askance at her but then lowered the cup from his lips.

"Only a few weeks. Maybe a month. I don't keep track of time anymore."  
She nodded.

"I can see why you wouldn't. Ba Sing Se is very.. cryptic. I almost feel like there's a secret being kept here."

She instantly remembered what the two watertribe kids had said to her yesterday... about the Dai Li.

"Have you heard of the Dai Li?"  
He shook his head.

"I've heard that they're... a little suspicious."

"Who are they?"  
"Some kind of agency that works for the Earth King. At least that's what I've been told. I haven't met them."  
"Anyone who works here would passes for suspicious in my opinion," he said, taking another drink.

She smiled gently. "So would that include yourself and your uncle?"  
"No," he said. "Just the braindud waterbenders I work with."  
She chuckled with closed lips, and took another swig of water, but detected no sign of humor on his face. His eyes were softer, though. Maybe the turn in conversation had been for the better.

Suddenly she gasped, dropping her cup and spilling water across the carpet. He glanced at her quickly, watching her as she winced and clutched at her leg.

"My scar--" she looked at him, worry and pain blazing in her eyes, "it hurts--"

He set down his own cup, and crawled to her side.

"Let's see it."  
Carefully the rolled up her trousers under her kimono, revealing soft, creamy skin stained with the rosy patterns of a burn scar. He studied it's lines, how swollen it seemed. He had learned a scar could sting when chi was focused around it, but Song was not a bender, and as far as he could see, there was no unnatural swelling.

"It doesn't look like anything's wrong..."

"I don't know-- what the matter is--" she grit her teeth. "It-- Zuko--"  
A small cry escaped her lips and her brow hit her knee, her whole body contorting in pain.

Frantic, Zuko moved to sit up, perhaps rummage for some ointment--

But suddenly his mind was flooded with another vision of ocean waves. This time, they churned together in a battling storm, all thriving within, over, around eachother. And he saw... burning within their bellies, illuminating their crests in gold, was a flame. A fire, under the ocean. Within the ocean. It spread throughout all the waves, seeking to consume them, but unable to break their surface.

_"Don't give it to me... I might not give it back."_

The voice was as powerful and as cool as the spray of the sea-- it showered him in frosty warmth, stretching into his chi, binding him to it's tone--

The vision broke with Song's gasp. But it wasn't of pain, but of awe.

Zuko blinked, following her shocked gaze to the burn scar on her leg.

It was glowing.

The pink paths of charred flesh were alight with a magnificent red-gold glow. The light followed every crevice of her scar, it's brightness focused on the surface of her skin, illuminating the soft flesh of her leg in a deep, fiery hue. It's color and liveliness surpassed that in the fireplace, made it shrink in insignificant dimness. It was the perfect firelight.

"What... what's happening?" she managed, her voice short and contorted in pain.

"I... I don't know..." Zuko wet his lips anxiously.  
A sudden instinctive response erupted from Zuko's nervous system and he extended a hand to touch one glowing crevice of her scar.

He felt the fire. The very fire that had burned her, as pure and fresh and hot as it had been the moment it had touched her skin. He drew back sharply, sucking in breath as it singed his senses.

"Zuko--"

He looked into her eyes-- but she wasn't pleading. Her arm was extended, looking past him...

At _his_ arm. He followed her gaze, and was even more shocked at what cloaked his hand, from the tip of his tallest finger to the curve of his wrist.

It was a glowing white film, like a luminescent mitten. It was the same creamy, soft hue of the candle he had given Kioki, and it felt the same as well: a sleek wetness. It flowed around his fingers in a gentle, constant current, rippling as he flexed his them. His hand was encased inside but he felt no altered temperature from within.

"I think..."

He looked down at her leg, and slowly moved his glowing hand towards it.

She did not object, but only stared in half awe, half agony. She winced one last time, a smaller cry squeezed from her lips, and then his fingers came to rest gently on one of the burning edges of her scar.

Instantly, brilliant cream fire burst from his fingertips: the flames were not an inch high, and they were as thin as a butterfly's wing. The five lines of fire spread from his hand, turning and twisting along the lines of her scar in the jerky fashion of a spreading purge. They consumed every corner, every crevice. They snuffed out the fiery light, drinking it in so that it ceased to exist. In seconds, the paths of flame had engulfed every corner of her scar and were beginning to retreat back to Zuko's hand, leaving in their wake perfect, untouched flesh.

Zuko's hand had not moved since clutching Song's leg, and now it opened as if by instinct to receive the small tongues of fire back into it's palm.

As his knuckles closed around them, they were quenched, along with the glowing white glove. It all dissipated into his flesh, like smoke swirling it's last tendrils above a pipe, only to be extinguished by the wind.

Zuko stared at his hand, and then looked up at Song. She wore an expression of utter shock, of profound awe.

"You healed it..."

Both pairs of eyes traveled to her leg.

The scar was gone: the flesh shimmered in the light of the fireplace as perfectly as if it had never known flame.

"Oh-- oh my-- Zuko, it's--"  
She ran her fingers over the clean skin, as if searching desperately for a sign of pain, a testimony that it still existed somewhere.

But it didn't. She had scrutinized her skin thrice before he took her fingers gently in his own, stopping them.

"It's gone, Song," he said softly, holding her gaze.

"I don't know how, but it is."

He looked back down at her leg, so many emotions swirling around in his gaze, and lifted cautious fingers to touch her flesh, to feel for himself.

"I've almost forgotten what perfected skin feels like," he whispered to himself.

"Zuko..."

He met her eyes. They sobbed from the inside, and the tears he thought he saw glowed as lava underneath her large irises...

The door was thrust open with a loud bang.

They jumped dramatically, their gazes bright with shock snapping towards the disturbance.

A soaked, muddied Iroh stumbled through the front door, appearing as a spherical sillouhette with stubby legs and a pointed head. The lightning outside screeched, showing them his hooded face, contorted in the whistling wind, the onslaught of rain.

He slammed the door shut behind him, panting heavily, dropping two bags and another package to the ground. His cloak glimmered with layer upon layer of rain water.

His eyes were glazed, unfocused, but he managed to concentrate. While the two teenagers were still frozen in bafflement, his gaze traveled curiously over the scene: Zuko and Song sitting close before the fire, Song's pant leg rolled up past her knee, Zuko's hand rested gently on her shin.

"Erb-- Forgive me--" he stammered, doing everything in his power not to smile. "Am I interrupting something?"  
Zuko's hand was snatched from her leg and drawn into the tresses of his sleeve, almost too fast for Iroh to see.


	16. Chapter 16: Numbed

16

Suki's eyes opened.

Had she really fallen asleep?

Well, too late to worry about it now.

She shifted in the hard rock under her and discovered she was lying on her back. The contortionist's pressure hits had worn off, but the ropes were still tight around her ankles and wrists, so any movement was strictly limited. She rolled over onto her side to see Lisyyun asleep too.

How much time had passed since they had been trapped by the Fire Nation princess?

A moan from her left told her Yushura was awake. Suki rolled to look at her: both Yushura and Lisyyun's long hair was rugged and matted with dust, tangled strands spilled about their shoulders and painted faces. Suki was grateful that her hair was cut short-- it felt much more manageable in their predicament. It was strange, that of all things, she was thinking about their hair...

Yushura moaned again, and her eyes fluttered open.

"The others..."

Suki wet her lips, losing the strength in her elbow and falling forward on her chest. She too wondered... what had become of their fellow Kyoshi warriors?

"They... were scattered. I don't know if they're... all right or not."

Yushura winced, moving bound hands down to touch her thigh. The fabric of her brown undergarment was stained with blood.

"The knife... it's still..."

Suki crawled forward as best as she could, her own face contorting as the rocks scraped at her exposed skin. As she neared her friend's leg, she suddenly saw what was wrong.

A small knife was lodged deep in her leg. She recognized it-- one of their captors had had skill with daggers.

Suki brought her arms out from under her, her chest screaming in protest as it was set on the rocks, to gently grasp Yushura's hand.

"We'll get it out," she whispered. "I know we will. It will heal, and we'll find a way out of here."  
There was movement to her right and Suki turned her head to see Lisyyun stir. Her eyes opened carefully, painfully, and she groaned as memory soared into her.

"That Fire Nation _witch_," she snarled to herself. "I swear I'll see her vanquished."

"Don't make any rash actions too soon," Suki chided. "We'll get out of here. But first we have to get these bindings loosed."  
"How do you know we can?" Yushura breathed, her voice tight in pain tolerance. "We can't penetrate a wall of rock. We're stuck here, Suki, forever."  
"No," Suki said, shaking her head. "No. I just won't believe it. I'd lost my hope before-- but now I can't afford that kind of attitude. _We_ can't. We're the only ones who know the princess is here. We _have_ to make it out."

She bit her lip, looking at Yushura's leg regretfully.

"Yushura... if we can get that knife out of your leg, we could use it to cut the ropes."

Yushura nodded, her eyes shut tight. "I know. We need... to get it out... anyway. How... do you propose doing it?"  
Suki glanced at Lisyyun.

"I'll do anything it takes to take that princess down," Lisyyun said, glaring at the wall of rock that trapped them.

"We just might have to," Suki replied gravely, and then managed to pull herself into sitting position.

"Lisyyun, can you make it over here?"

The warrior grunted as she forced her body into position, and used her elbows and knees to drag herself near Suki. Once she was in reach, Suki clasped her arm with her bound hands, and pulled with all her might, helping her grunt her way to her knees.

"Thanks." Lisyyun flicked her head, clearing her eyes of long strands of brown hair.

Suki flexed her fingers, trying to calm her racing heart. She glanced at Yushura's grimacing face-- her eyes opened narrowly to meet her gaze. Her lips parted to reveal clenched teeth, but she nodded and shut her eyes again, dropping her head down on the rock.

"It'll be quick, Yushura," Suki whispered as softly as she could. "I promise."

She turned to Lisyyun.

"Can you hold her?"  
"You don't have to," Yushura groaned, her hands fisting in their bindings. "I'll be fine."  
But Lisyyun nodded to Suki nonetheless, managing to move towards Yushura's head, where she bowed herself over her companion's back and clutched her arm with all ten fingers. It was the most affection, the most comfort, she could offer.

"You _will_ be fine," she whispered on Yushura's neck. The warrior did not respond.

Suki set her hands on the rock below her to support herself as she made her way feebly to Yushura's leg. When she was approached it, she studied the wound closely, refraining from touching it until she was positive she would have the most stable grip.

The knife was protruded just enough for her to close her first two fingers and thumb around it, but she didn't just yet. Quickly she measured the angle at which it had entered-- she concluded it would be easier to remove the knife by pressuring down, where it seemed to slant.

She wet her lips, lowering trembling fingers to the grip she had devised. The knife's cold metal struck the gaze of the princess and her two companions into her mind-- instead of dispelling the image, she used it. In her mind, she zoomed in on those deathly, golden eyes. The glint of cruelty in them fueled Suki's anger, gathered her strength in the form of furious adrenaline.

How dare she do this to Yushura. To us.

How dare she.

The anger and hurt clouded her mind, building up to unleash the greatest storm of might she had yet to come by. She clenched the knife with hands shaking no more in anxiety but in fury. She imagined the pain Yushura was experiencing, the hopelessness of their situation, the pleasure the princess took in defeating them...

...the cold, heartless lightning that had sealed away their world forever...

No!

She screamed it in her mind, right into those burning yellow eyes.

"Not forever!"

She yelled it with her voice, to the blackness of her clenched gaze.

Yushura's cry that echoed through the cave told her she had pulled.

She could feel her strength rush through her arms, could feel it shudder as it was released. The anger was released too, vibrating through her and slowly sinking away. She could never harbor such anger for long-- she knew what anger did to people, what it destroyed when used in her art of battle. She yielded all her power to success; she knew it was success because when she was thrown back, and when the rock struck her head, it jerked her eyes open, and in her hands white with force, she could see the knife. It glistened scarlet before her gaze.

A heart beat passed, and Lisyyun rose from Yushura's body to snag Suki's wrist. Suki strained her stomach and used Lisyyun's aid to rise back to sitting position.

"You did it!" the girl cried triumphantly, staring at the knife in Suki's hands.

Suki lowered her head, to just breath, feeling the adrenaline slowly be drained. After a moment it seemed she had regained herself, and she lifted her eyes to look at Yushura.

"Yes," she whispered.

"It's out, Yushura."  
"That, I know," Yushura snapped, clutching her thigh. She sighed, cooing in remaining pain, but then managed to glance up at Suki.

"Thank you," she said, a little more softly. Suki smiled tiredly.

"Thank _you_," she replied, "for cutting down on your defense practice."

Quickly she turned the knife in her fingers so that it's sharp edge rubbed up against the binds under the thumb. She pulled with what strength she had in her fingers, and remarkably, the bindings split. The knife passed through them easily, and she watched them unwind and tumble around her forearms. In their place was raw, swollen flesh caked in blood.

"Oh, Suki--" Lisyyun raised her hands to her face.

"It's all right," Suki hushed quickly. "I can't feel it anymore, it's too numb."  
The muscles in her arms sang as she spread them wide, stretching them for one blissful moment, and then lowered the knife quickly to her ankles.

In seconds all three of them were free of the bindings. Lisyyun stood immediately, stretching as Suki had done.

"Ahhhh, that feels great..."

A moment later she realized Suki was helping Yushura into the corner and bent low to lend her own hand. Together they were able to support her way to the softest curve of the cave's wall, and lower her down into a comfortable sitting position to rest her leg, allow it to heal.

"Let's get this wrapped up," Suki said, and ripped a strip of fabric from her beige undergarment. After securing it around Yushura's leg, she rose shakily to her feet.

"Next step, we get out of here."

"And how are we going to do that?" Lisyyun said, rising with her hands on her hips.

Suki made her way gingerly to the entrance of the cave. The three boulders that blocked their way were deceiving-- she had seen them fall, and knew how thick they really were. Here, they looked thicker than the cave wall itself, but in reality, they weren't even the width that her forearm was length. Studiously she ran her fingers over the rock's surface. It was soft, and when she stroked it, a layer of powder crumbled from the contact.

Decided, she turned to her comrades.

"We can penetrate this," she said.

"What?" Lisyyun and Yushura stared at her, doubt clouding their expressions.

"We are the Kyoshi Warriors," Suki said. "We hold ancient traditions of martial arts that no other humans have. While the art of Kong Fu is shared among all the people of this land, we are equipped not only with it's power and strength, but with it's grace. And that is what is going to help us break the rock. Grace is our weapon-- it will be used to conquer the greatest force we have faced. Or is the rock no more than air, the air we strike while in daily practices? It's all the same."

She turned to the rock, stepping back three paces, and began to work one of the delicate dances of their art. Yushura and Lisyyun followed the motions with their eyes, in their mind.

Suki closed her eyes, feeling the strength of her style and form distribute through her bloodstream, like the anger had when she had removed the knife from Yushura's leg. She soon realized that grace and peace was more powerful than anger-- another lesson learned.

She halted before the rock, and brought her fist forward with all the firmness and might she could muster, accompanied by a cry of force from her lips.

Her knuckles met the stone full on, and a shuddering crumble erupted. Dust rose in clouds, brushing her closed face, whispering a weakness found.

But the blow was not without consequence.

It was a magnificent move, but with no bending abilities it snuffed the strength right from her arm as easily as if she had blown out a candle. Moments after she had struck the rock, the pain came, quivering up the muscles of her arm. She felt the knots tie in her forearm, spreading to her bicep, and winced, hugging her arm close to her breast.

"Suki!"

Lisyyun approached her quickly.

"Are you okay? That was the boldest move I've ever seen!"

"It's our only option," Suki said. Her arm began to shake, and she clenched it tighter. The pain was not a stabbing pain but more of a numbness. She took it as it was and was grateful.

Lisyyun watched her for a moment longer, and then looked up at the rock. There was a dent where Suki's Kong Fu had struck it's surface. Glaring, she approached the rock.

"Okay. I'm all for that."  
Drawing back, she performed the same preparation dance Suki had, and let her own eyes drift shut. She mirrored every movement she could remember, and at last brought her own knuckles against the rock, backed up with the grit of her resolve and her own cry of force.

A second shudder thundered through the rock, and twice the amount of dust cascaded upon her. Instantly she could feel the numbing reaction race up her arm, and she drew back, massaging her tricep.

"You're crazy, Suki. But I like it."  
Suki shot her a nervous smile.

"I'm glad. We _are_ stuck in a cave together."

"Lisyyun, give me a hand here."  
They turned and saw Yushura struggling to rise to her feet. The two others hurried to her side, taking her arms and hoisting her up into a stand.

"Now let go," she said.

Suki and Lisyyun shared quizzical glances, but then obeyed. Yushura stood still for a moment, struggling to keep her balance. She took a step forward and nearly fell, groaning in pain, but when Suki and Lisyyun leapt to her aid she waved them away.

"You can get me over to that rock," she said after a moment.

They nodded, and aided her as she limped over the rocks. When they had positioned her exactly where they had been, she closed her eyes, brushing them away again, and began to move her hands in the soft routine. In her mind, Yushura reached to the tresses of her art, recalled every word she and Suki and Lisyyun had learned side by side. She embraced the art, twirling it about her, passing it's strength through her wound. Instantly the pain disappeared, leaving only an empty space of peace.

Clenching her fingers she waited until the whisper of her meditation called it forward, and then yelled as she heeded to it. Her fist struck the rock harder than the previous two, and she was engulfed as the rock shed a layer of brown powder, a handful of dust. The cave walls vibrated a third time, roaring their weakness.

Roaring the coming defeat.

-------------

The halls were dark and dreary when Kioki and Jet entered the home, but the candle was there to light their way.

Their gazes were weak and clouded with exhaustion, but the candle was there to give them strength.

Their steps were gaunt and heavy with reason but the candle was there to spark their hearts.

Hikuro was awakened by their entrance, and the fear that gripped his heart was quick and thoughtless, but the candle was there to calm his senses, to open his mind.

He sat up in his bed, the sweat on his brow shimmering in the candle's light as it was brought into the room. It illuminated the faces of his niece and the tall boy beside her, and some sort of power that hummed in the air silenced him, blotted out any capability of words.

"Wake her," Kioki instructed him softly. Her voice was shaken and shattered with emotion. Hikuro's hands moved blindly to his side, where his wife's slender shoulder protruded from the blankets. Gently he roused her, and her weakened coo struck regret into his heart.

The candle was there to wash the regret out and replace it with hope.

It sat in Kioki's fingers like a mug of water, shaped as a giant tear drop, lined with ridges that glowed brilliant cream.

Naoke's eyes cracked, bidden by the light of the candle, and she stared into Kioki's eyes with a question that was showered in hope.

Kioki only nodded, her gaze the key to unlock all the answers.

The candle was lowered to Naoke's hands, placed against her flesh like the touch of a rose petal, the brush of the breeze. Naoke took in in her fingers, embracing it, sensing the beautiful promise that it foretold.

It melted away as rivers of whitened fire, into her flesh and down her arms, and she became, one last time, perfected.


	17. Chapter 17: Invisible Guardian

17

**A/N**: Woooo! Maanyu's back! I love Maanyu, he's so cool. Honk if you love him too! (sorry hehe might be too early for that... but oh well!)

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Maanyu wasn't feeling the greatest he ever had, but at least the weather was acting reasonable. He had come from the North Pole, after all. Cool weather was very appreciated when he was trying to analyze his emotions.

This appointment with these Dai Li guys was starting to bother him. The note had been suspicious enough-- the fact that they had asked him to come all the way to the edge of the city to this lake he had never even heard about was starting to gnaw at his edges too. He felt the base of his head pound in another Attack of the Headaches and he winced, massaging it furiously. Why did his sun sicknesses have to kick in now?

It really didn't make sense. Yes, the sun sicknesses had been a part of his life every since his birth, but today the sky was overcast! And a massive rainstorm had only just passed. He had been feeling so grateful when waking up and seeing the sky, realizing there was so much less solar power to deal with.

He really had to stop being so grateful all the time.

Luckily, _this_ lapse of sun sickness was tolerable. In fact, compared to those he had experienced in the past, this was a relief. Other lapses... he remembered the day he had been thrown close to death, rushed to the Spirit Oasis and given...

He moaned and held his stomach, cursing the pain that erupted through it, cursing the fact that despite the sun wasn't even out, he was still lapsing as usual.

And that wasn't all to stir his anxiety.

The snake was back.

He had no idea where it came from, but he had learned that only he could see it. It swirled about his knees and ankles, hovering not six inches from the ground, and when it strayed too long into his path...

He passed right through it. Well, he knew the answer to _that_ mystery, anyway.

The snake was made of water.

It had appeared beside him while he was lapsing, and only then, for as long as he could remember... like the Ocean Spirit's pet or something. It's features were as bold and detailed as any real snake, yet it's entire body was a translucent whip of water that coiled about him wordlessly.

He wasn't bothered by the snake, and had even once talked to it, and it had seemed to listen and even respond physically. But there was one thing he had discovered about it that had darkened it's reputation in his eyes.

It reacted to his emotions, or rather, was activated by them, much like his freakish bending techniques.

Even now, he could see the cascading riot of his thoughts send the snake into a bristled coil, tangling itself in all the queries and ambitions a boy could hold.

But Maanyu couldn't help thinking. He thought of the invitation from the Dai Li, and the snake shuddered nervously. He thought of the injustice of experiencing sun sickness when there was no sun visible in the sky, and the snake jerked angrily.

He thought of Katara, of those crystalline blue eyes that had actually taken part in his most recent dream, the sound of her voice, such freedom and asurity that he yearned to have...

The touch of her skin beneath his, like the smooth surface of a lake...

And the snake leapt into action like at the climax of a hunt, twirling and dancing about his knees and ankles in a jolted frenzy.

"Stop it," Maanyu chided, watching it's reaction when the sound of her name sang music into his mind.

Ha, ha. Like those words had ever worked with any aspect of his existence--

"Maanyu!"  
Katara fell out of the sky and into his arms.

Well, not exactly out of the sky. Just from the corner of an alleyway he was approaching. The first thing he had seen had been her eyes wide with shock, her braid flying as she was sent into the air. He realized she had tripped or something-- he had just barely caught her, she was falling so fast and hard.

He looked down in surprise at her body cradled awkwardly in his arms; however she seemed to fit perfectly in the pocket of his shoulder, and her arms seemed the perfect length for the circumfrence of his slim waist.

She stared up at him with the most enormous blue eyes he had ever seen, blazing in shock and embarrassment, and he could only stare back. She looked thoroughly horrified.

The water-made snake had retreated behind his calves, and was turning frantic circles about his knees. She _had_, after all, trodden right through his head.

"Hi!" she squeaked. Her face burned.

"Hi," he breathed, blinking.

Quickly she leapt from his arms, straightened herself, fixing her hair.

"Erm-- sorry about that," she managed, trying to smile. He had never seen anyone so red.

He shrugged it off on the outside, his arms and chest bursting into flames with the echo of her touch on the inside.

"That's okay," he said, struggling to make his throat produce sound.

She let out a nervous chuckle, twisting frantically at her sleeves.

"Er-- so-- I guess I need to watch my step a little more..."  
"Not really," he said, managing a smile. "If you don't ever trip, you never get to stand up again."

She smiled for one genuine moment, and then instantly was thrust back into embarrassment.

"Well, um... now you know I'm here..."  
He chuckled.

"I just came to see you off," she finished quickly, the words tripping down her tongue like a domino effect. "I hope everything goes well with the Dai Li for you."

"Yeah..." he glanced down at the snake, now relaxed. "I do too. But honestly, I have no idea what to expect."  
"The Dai Li are like that," she assured him. "It's nothing you've done wrong."

"I know." He sighed, and then smiled, cocking an eyebrow.

"So how about you? What are you up too? Besides falling on me, that is."

She flushed again, her smile hidden in so much red.

"I... Nothing, actually, I just had the time, so I took it..."  
"Ah," he said, nodding. "I like that. I only... wish I had time too-- to stay and chat, I mean."

"Well, don't stay, but do chat," she said. "I'll walk you there."

She began walking, and he fell into line beside her.

"Is this weather weird or what?" she said enthusiastically, somewhat overcoming the stinging embarrassment.

"Oh, yeah," he said, and suddenly felt his head pound again. He winced and clenched his temples. "Actually... I thought it would be better."

But she hadn't seen.

"Well, it's better than the scorching heat, anyway."

"Much better..." He exhaled in annoyance, lifting one hand to the base of his skull where he pinched hard.

"Are you okay?" She had noticed this one, and turned to look at him worriedly.

"Yeah," he breathed, feeling the pain slowly waft away. "Just... a little headachy."

"I know what you mean," she said genuinely, turning her gaze up towards the gray clouds. "This change of temperature has my leg muscles screaming."

He remembered their ankles had interlocked when she had fallen, and blanched slightly.

"Er- really?"  
"Yeah," she said. "Ever since I left the South Pole, my body hasn't ever really adjusted to all these new climates."

He stared at her for a long time, his brow lowered in curiosity.

"Why did you leave?"  
Her gaze fell, and there was a hint of mischief in her eyes.

"I had a duty to someone. And when I'm done, I can go home again."  
He looked down at the snake, at the patterns it was turning at his feet.

"How long have you been away?"  
She sighed, looking his way.

"A couple months at least."

He wet his lips.

"Do you want to go back?"  
He finally met her eyes. She stared at him for a long moment, and then smiled softly to herself.

"Yes. When the war's all over, I'd love to go home."

Her eyes suddenly flickered, and she glanced uneasily at him.

"You know about the war, don't you?"  
"Oh, yeah," he said, averting his gaze. "I wish I didn't."

"So did I," she agreed heavily. "But then... there are times I'm glad. Now I have the choice to do something about it."  
He chuckled.

"You'd try to take action? I wish I were as determined as you, with anything."  
"Well, people have different limits of effort," she said. "I don't know you well at all, maybe you've already reached yours. Anyway, I don't believe anyone's just ran away all their lives."

Maanyu swallowed hard, looking down.

"Sometimes it's the only thing we _can_ do."

She looked at him and stopped walking. He slowed a little ahead of her and turned around.

"What is it?"

She bit her lip.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing wrong with running."

He walked back to stand before her, and carefully cradled her downcast chin in his fingers and tilted her head up to meet his gaze.

"And there's nothing wrong with believing everyone should take an action," he said, quickly drawing back his hand. "It's healthy for people to do that kind of soul-searching, so they can have something to fight for."  
She nodded. "Yeah. I guess so. What do you fight for, Maanyu?"  
He looked in her eyes long and hard, and then averted his gaze down to the snake.

"Something dark. At least, I used to. Now I'm just fighting to heal from my own wound."

------------

_I'm going to come meet you here tonight, when you come back. _

Those had been the last words besides 'Good-bye, Maanyu' that she had said, and for some reason they were so much a refuge. Knowing he would see her again was a refuge, something to look forward too. The rest of his day, his life, was just mushy. But she was bell-clear.

The lake was misty like the sky, and almost the same color. The sand was unstable beneath his feet.

The snake was gone. It was deathly silent.

But he didn't say anything, didn't call for anyone. It was they who wanted him, not the other way around.

Maanyu lowered himself onto the lake's bank, pulling up his knees to his chest and watching the gentle wind take layers of sand over the folds of his tunic...

He closed his eyes, listening to the water, what stories it whispered...

"Come with us, Maanyu Kaai. We don't want to hurt you."

The voice was smooth and cold and sounded reasonable enough... but something in his mind screamed,

_NO! _

It was so distinctive and so clear that it caught his heart off guard, nearly stopping it. The force echoed through the chambers of his ears, stinging his senses, threatening to pass through his bones like a shock wave, shattering them.

_No, Maanyu! You shouldn't have come! Get up and get away! NOW! Don't let them touch you!_

The only option he had was to obey.

The next thing he knew, he had rolled backwards over his head and sprung to his feet, right out of the closing fingers of two Dai Li agents.

They stared at him, perplexed, as he leapt to his feet in a stance. They realized his intentions.

"Restrain him," one ordered, his voice shaken with a startled edge.

More hands beside him leapt to seize his tunic--

His hands could not work fast enough to bend--

But his mind could.

Almost unconscious of those thoughts, Maanyu watched his anxiety bring an instinctive wave from the lake-- the wave thinned into a whip and split from the lake's body, soaring up over their heads, and dipping down to surround Maanyu in a wreath of swirling water.

All before the agents' rough fingers could touch his sleeve.

The whip swirled, expanding, and thrust out it's arm to send the agents flying across the sand like a whack over the cheek. Maanyu blinked, struggling to settle himself, and lifted his hands to commandeer the whip. It twisted above him, resembling a large serpent poised over it's prey...

Strange, how it all came back to snakes...

The agents lifted themselves drearily to their feet, but once they were back in their stance, they had the energy of a lightning storm. They charged him, fifteen in all, all brandishing hands flexed for bending.

One in the lead shot his fist forward- a bust of a hand crafted entirely of rock whistled towards Maanyu, like an arrow launched from a bow. It caught the waterbender off guard- he only just managed to twist himself out of it's reach... and feel it's speed brush the skin on his cheek.

He had dropped his hands, but the buzzing riot of his thoughts kept the whip aloft, as he expected. And was suddenly grateful for it. He would need his hands.

Finally the Dai Li were in arm's reach of him-- more stone hands were shot in an attempt to snag his wrists, but Maanyu's heart reacted faster than their hands, and he had already spun out of their reach, the whip of water soaring down as a cobra's strike to bat the rock fists into dust.

One agent stood back, the leader, who had commanded they restrain him.

He watched in true bafflement.

The boy was more swift than anyone they had ever happened upon. He was quick, agile, flexible-- he seemed to dodge their attacks as fluently as if they had rehearsed every move of the battle. He watched the boy flip, watched him drop in a straddle... his maneuvers were truly excellent. Not one of his men had managed to touch him.

And on top of it all, his water whip was something to marvel at. It's precision was flawless, it's timing exact. It was as if it had a mind of it's own.

And the boy's hands were not directing it's movements. They were there to balance his swift moves, to spring his flips. But not to direct the water.

Was he even bending it to begin with?

It was like nothing the agent had ever seen.

Luckily, he had leverage the boy didn't know about.

In the midst of the battle, the agent lifted his hand, the wind picking up dramatically around him, and the clouds parted. The sky opened in glorious sunlight, azure spilling where gray had once been, the sun's glowing embrace breaking through the crispy storm air.

Maanyu's eyes met the sun, and the agent watched in satisfaction as the boy collapsed onto the sand.

_No, Maanyu... don't give in... You can choose to avoid the lapse... you can stop it..._

But he had already been turned over to the sun's merciless grin, and the whip of water fell about his sprawled body in a brief rain shower of defeat.

-----------

Princess Azula's smirk was as cold as the wind that had picked up. It ruffled the broken, burned town of the Kyoshi Island, wafted through the screenless windows of abandoned homes.

"Well, well..." Azula massaged her temple amusingly. "These people know how to clear a threat, don't they?"  
"This place has been empty for the last month," Ty Lee said cheerfully. "I heard about it. I think Zuko came here looking for the Avatar, and he damaged the place _real_ bad!"

"That is so descriptive," Mai droned.

"Oh, really!" Azula sighed in mock disappointment. "Such a naughty one, Zuzu. Leaving nothing left for us to destroy..."

She paused, smirking.

"Though, I do wonder whether he was here for the Avatar, or just for those prissy Kyoshi warriors..."  
Ty Lee giggled. Behind them, Mai grimaced.

The three moved as ghosts through a ghost town. The wind wafted sand about their heels-- The ruins of the island seemed to hum a warning, some long, forgotten tale of superstition.

It was crushed under the princess's heel.

"So what are we looking for, Azula?" Ty Lee said brightly, looking at the crumbled roof tops with large eyes.

"The Avatar Fangirls' face paint, Ty Lee," Azula said sweetly, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, yeah!"

Mai groaned.

"After all this is over, Azula, would you burn off my face so I can grow a new one? I can't stand the idea of knowing their girlie make-up touched my flesh."  
"No problem, Mai," Azula replied. "I'd be happy too."  
"You're my life saver."  
After a moment longer of searching, Ty Lee had stumbled through one doorway near the end of the city to find a large room lined with mirrors. When she cheerfully called over Azula and Mai, their reactions weren't as excited.

"Oh, wow," Mai groaned, stopping in the doorway as Azula brushed past her. "A dance classroom. You're really helping this mission along, Ty Lee."

"Oooo!" Ty Lee cart-wheeled to the middle and began to indulge in several impressive contortionist moves, all the time watching herself fondly. Mai only covered her mouth with her hand, averting her gaze.

"Indeed she is." Azula's voice was cold and it echoed ominously through the room. The two others looked up to acknowledge her.

The princess stood at the far end of the room before a series of dressers.

"We've found our mark. Come collect what you need, girls. In the meantime, I'll be making clean and quick work of this... town...?"  
As Mai and Ty Lee crossed the room with ranging levels of enthusiasm, Azula stepped out onto the sandy roads.

She could see the ocean spanned out before them, sparkling with the coming evening.

Bringing up her hands, she summoned the fire within her, about her, feeling it's heat embrace her fingertips.

And she walked, down the island towards the sea shore, stoic and silent.

The entire town burned brilliant gold flames in her wake, engulfed forever, once and for all.

-----------------

_The Fire Nation are our enemies. They seek to infiltrate our city. They must be found._

_No, Maanyu... resist it! You are not their servant!_

_The Fire Nation are our enemies. They seek to infiltrate our city. They must be found._

_Maanyu! Don't! _

"I-- I'm trying--"  
Light-- spinning light-- it flashed painfully over his eyelids-- again-- again--

_There is war within our walls. It must be found._

_You must find it, Maanyu._

_You must find the firebenders._

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**A/N**: Please pardon the perhaps incorrect state of the Kyoshi island. It's a fanfic, what can I do about it?


	18. Chapter 18: Aftershock

18

**A/N**: I recieved major author's inspiration while writing this one-- also i tried super hard to make sure none of the Jet-Kioki stuff at the end seemed empty. By that i mean, didn't have a thick enough build-up, or background. Give me your thoughts on that!! Thanx so much for reading guys! Reviews are cookies!!

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Zuko sat before the window, watching the mist of coming rain begin to kiss the glass. It was past noon, but all that day it had only looked like one long evening. There had been a mysterious patch of sunlight down by the end of the city, but it had disappeared as quickly as it had came, sealing the day back away in storm. Zuko wasn't bothered by the stormy weather.

There was something in him, some emotion rising atop his blood that he hadn't felt for a long time, maybe not even ever. Frustration, anger, sadness... those were all familiar. They had haunted him everyday of his banished life. No, this was quite new, and that surprised him the more and more he thought about it.

Jealously.

Everyone felt jealousy in their lifetime. Just... not him, not as regularly. He shocked himself when he realized he was never jealous of Azula, not even when they were young, naive children.

He had only been disappointed, worried, agitated, that he might not win love and respect from his elders.

But he had never felt actual, pure jealousy.

He had despised Azula, especially as a child. She had frightened him at times, was always there to make sure he was lied to or hurt in some way. So he had never wanted to be like her.

He had never been jealous of his father, of the power he held, because he had never even known him well enough to know who he really was. And with someone who was that much of a mystery... emotions couldn't rotate too easily around them.

But today he felt it, perhaps for the first time in his life. The jealousy had crept into his heart inch by little inch over the minutes, the seconds, until it had encompassed his mind completely. For some reason he could not dispel it-- it nagged at his senses, was the only source of life he could turn to.

He was becoming obsessed in it.

He touched his burn scar. It sat there on his face, laughing, taunting him, daring him to hope it would ever go away as...

...as Song's had.

It wasn't just. It simply wasn't. Song's scar could not even be seen! It could be hidden. Hers was received by accident-- she had not done anything wrong. Hers had been healed, and glowed and asked to be healed as if it deserved some secret destiny he could never hope for.

His had been thrust upon him. In the anger and shame of a man he thought had loved him. He had stood up for the right thing and received the scar as a sign of weakness, of disrespect. He could never hide it-- it would always be there for the world to see. He would always have to face it, every day.

So why hadn't his asked to be healed? Out of the two, his was the one that rightfully deserved to be done away with. It just worked that way, didn't it?

He glared harder, gritting his teeth, watching the rain begin to streak the window.

_It should have been mine. I shouldn't have this scar right now. It should have been healed a long time ago._

_I've changed, haven't I? I've walked away from my family, forsaken my identity, to try and heal myself, haven't I? I've shown effort! What effort has she given to be free of her mark? Her scar isn't even a mark to begin with, she can just hide it everyday! She could have lived and died with it happily._

_Yet it was healed, and by my hand! Me, who of all people deserve release, deserve justice!_

_Why am I forced to live this way, in this pit where every rope descended to me is yanked away out of my reach?  
_He realized his hands were glowing red-- his knuckles were white hot, his flesh steaming. He tried to calm himself, breathing a puff of steam out from his nostrils, but it only made the bile rise higher. He heard his teeth grind-- his brow ached from the intensity of his glare.

The door opened, and the heat left his hands. Visibly, at least.

"Zuko?"  
The voice was soft and considerate but it stung him like a swarm of hornets. The envy boiled at the edges of his mind-- he tried to force it down, but to no avail-- all rationalizing had been done away with. It was too late to rationalize.

"Yes?" He barely vocalized the word.

"I..."

Song closed the door carefully behind her. He could not see, but she was biting her lip, watching him regretfully.

"I wanted to... I mean, I recognize... Oh, Zuko..."  
His brow twitched and he glanced over his shoulder to see her wipe at her eyes.

"I know that..." she sniffed and tried again, "...you may feel... I'm... I'm just so sorry your scar couldn't be healed too!"

She finally just said it, and he averted his gaze to hide the fire building behind it.

"I'm sorry too," he growled.

"I understand how hard it must be--"  
"No, you don't. Don't you dare even say that."

"I'm so sorry, how can I say more? I want so much to help you, Zuko, and if there's anything I can--"  
"You can leave. Please, Song. I want you to leave."

"But, Zuko--"  
"Go home."  
She only stared, despair rising in her eyes.

"I..."

"Now."

"Zuko... please, hear me out--"  
"I have!"

He leapt to his feet, turning to glare at her. She could see his hands glowing fiery red and hiccuped in fright, backing away a step.

"And you've made it perfectly clear how you feel," he snarled. "Now I'm making it clear how I feel. I want you out, now!"

She stood there, her lip trembling, a tear escaping her lashes and gliding down her cheek.

"I want to thank you for healing mine. And tell you I don't believe all hope is lost for yours."  
"_Go_."

She swallowed, and slowly began to move towards the door.

"Do you know why I was looking for you in the first place?"  
It seemed he would scream at her but he held his tongue, his hands clenching into steaming fists.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted you to feel that you weren't alone."

He stared at her, long and hard, and some light sparked in the blackness of his heart.

But it was far too small to spread.

"I know I'm not alone," he whispered. "Now please, just _leave_."

"Iroh can't be the only person in the world you trust, or love," she said.

"He's--!" Zuko was on the verge of firebending. He spun away from her, shaking.

"Song. I'm not going to tell you again."  
But the door was already closing behind her, a sob the last sound he heard before he was left alone in his room.

But he was anything but alone.

The scar on his face cackled, and he shattered the window with a blast of fire.

------------

Katara's steps were light and heavy, but she tried to focus on the brighter side of things. She would see Maanyu again tonight-- if the Dai Li did anything suspicious, Maanyu would have the Avatar's support to discover what. From a certain view point, everything actually looked pretty manageable. Her good mood was something even she herself hadn't expected-- the Dai Li had never lifted her spirits too high-- but it was there, and by so, it didn't prepare her thoroughly for what she was to come across.

Up ahead, her path cam to collide with a large wall, where she was forced to turn either right or left into two alleyways to get back to her gang's apartment. She would go to her left, but as she approached--

"Katara? I didn't think I'd run into you _here_."

She jumped, looking into the dark alleyway.

Jet stepped out of the shadows and into her path.

She cursed the blush that leapt to her cheeks, and tried to hide it in the intensity of her glare. By instinct, her hands leapt to her pouch--

But she remembered it wasn't there.

She glared at that face, so familiar, so... handsome...

No!

So _monstrous_!

"Jet," she growled, her eyes narrowing in hate.

"What are you doing here?"  
"Looking for you," he replied, and smiled. She cursed the smile and it's charm.

It's deceit.

He extended a hand, but she jumped back.

"_Get_... _away_ from me."

His gaze flickered, but he only lifted an eyebrow knowingly and smiled softer.

"That's a shame, you know. I remember your touch so well..."

"You better hope you never do again," she snarled. "Because it won't be what it was then."

He sighed.

"Well, at least you admit to it."

"Just get out of my life. For good, this time. Go!"

"Ah, Katara... are you so really so blinded by the past?"  
He extended his hands casually, and she spared a moment to glare at him and glanced down disinterestedly at his palms...

Her pouch, and Sokka's boomerang, sat in his grasps.

Her eyes widened and her hand flew to snatch them, but he was quicker, drawing his arms back into the shadows.

"Ah-ah-ah-ah..." He only smiled fondly down on her fury.

"Give me those!" she spat. "So you're the one who stole them! How dare you, give them to me now!"  
"I didn't steel them," he replied nonchalantly, "it was two kids I know."

"You better not give me descriptions, for their own good," she hissed back, and as his knuckles crept back into view, she made another lunge for the items.

Again, his draw held the higher speed and her fingers ended up snagging his sleeve instead, pulled into his chest by his withdrawal.

"Argh!" She glared up into his smiling face, so close now...

"Oops, sorry," he whispered, chuckling. His breath was cold on her face, sending shudders over her shoulders.

"Get away from me--" It was a contorted growl as she worked to push herself from his personal space.

"You're sick."

"Please don't," he said, his smile twisting into a regretful smirk. "I really want to give these back, but I can't hand them over to someone who doesn't deserve them."

"_Deserve_ them?!" Her face flared in fury. "I swear, I could _kill_ you!"

He clicked his tongue. "No, no... we don't want to do that. I've learned my lesson about killing, thanks to you and Aang."

"Don't even talk about him," Katara spat. "He trusted to you, he _looked up_ to you, and you were the same heartless jerk to him as you were to me. Now give me our things, or you'll regret ever thinking you could stand in my way!"

"Okay-- okay, Katara, you win."

He held up the items in two fingers while the others spread beside his head in defeat.

She made a move for them but again he drew them back.

"I wonder," he said slowly, emerging slightly from the corner, "how you'll act after I give them to you."  
"You know I'll attack you," she said bitterly. "So you better get a head start. Because _I'm_ not giving you one."

"Yeah, see, so then why would I give them back to you?"  
"Because if you don't, it'll only be a matter of time before Aang finds you. And _then_ you'll be sorry."

"Oh, come on, Katara," he smiled, averting his gaze. "Stop relying on Aang to take care of _everything_ for you. And honestly, it's not like he was too huge a threat to me _last_ time."  
"_Last_ time he couldn't earth bend," she snarled. "And I don't fully rely on Aang for everything, how dare you say that! You, who never once knew how to be a true leader!"

His eyes hardened but his smirk didn't wane.

"It's really disappointing we had to reunite like this, Katara," he said softly.

"Stop saying my name. I don't want to know you anymore."

"Katara..." He emerged fully from the shadowy corners, approaching her. She took a step back.

"I said stay away from me!"

"It's a beautiful name, Katara," he whispered, his smirk falling. "Katara..."

"Stop it!"

"I'm not who you think I am," he said, staring firmly at her now. He had stopped walking-- she thanked it.

"Not now. I've changed, you know."

"Right. And I hand Aang over to the Fire Lord for a handful of gold."

"I have. Whether you want to believe it or not, it's true. I just want you to know it."

"Great, I got it- another lie to see past. Now give me my water!"

"I'm not lying." He reached out to touch her face, and for some reason she felt an incapability to move at the touch of his flesh, as if he had sent a sheet of ice over her muscles, freezing her where she stood.

"I missed you, Katara. I thought... I thought I had found something with you."

His fingers fell away, defeated by her stinging glare.

"But now I know... I never did. It was all just one big lie, wasn't it?"  
She stood there for a heartbeat longer, glaring metal into the back of his soul, and then leapt forward to snatch the boomerang and pouch from his hands. He didn't object, didn't even flinch, and ran his hand over the back of his neck as she brushed past him, lute collected, purpose... not met?

"You're not going to attack me?" he said sullenly over his shoulder.

"I just don't want to see you again," she replied heavily.

He was quiet, listening to her steps, and then turn, a weight evident across his shoulders, his heart...

"Katara."

There was a hurt on his face that almost made her regret as she turned to face him.

"Don't say that," he said.

She stared at him for a long moment, the essences of her heart churning behind her large eyes, and then sighed.

"Please, just... give me some space? For a while."

Her voice and eyes were softer- he didn't say anything, only lowered his head in a modest nod.

She turned, and left him alone on the corner. His gaze drifted to the ground, and he fell back against the stone wall. His hand came through his hair, running across his cheek.

"What am I doing..."

"Looks to me like you're remembering, Jet."  
He looked up in half surprise, half expectancy. Kioki made her way casually down the alleyway, running her fingers absently over the stones, weaving in and out of the molding like a child would. She met his eyes but there was no humor behind them, only a stoic mask.

"What do you mean?" he asked, straightening as she approached.

"I mean... there's times when I thought I had found something with you, too," she replied. He stared at her. Her eyes fell heavier.

"Ki..." he blinked, shaking his head. "What..."

"Jet..." She turned away, more emotion leaking into her face until, though he could only see her back, she appeared thoroughly miserable.

"I don't want you to play with me," she said. "Please don't be something that you've tried to leave behind."

"What are you talking about, I've only ever been one person in my life, and it's the one you know." His voice was tender but it had an edge of desperation. He approached her back, reaching for her arm.

"I can't be sure that's true." She turned to face him, and the worry and hurt in her eyes made him lose his breath.

"I've heard what people say about you. You may not think it, but I do know the kind of person you used to be."

"Kioki--"

"I just don't want to be pushed into another lie. So tell me now if the lie you two shared is what we share now. Because if so, I don't want it anymore."

For a moment all he could do was stare. What had passed between he and Katara to make her think that way? He searched their words, and nothing struck him as something that would shake he and Kioki's friendship.

And then he realized what she was talking about.

"Kioki..."

But she had turned away and started to leave. He lunged and caught her hand, stopping her.

"Kioki, please."

She met his gaze.

"Kata..." --he bit his lip-- "She doesn't mean anything to me. Not the way you're thinking."

"But she means something."  
"Of course she does. Everyone does. We were friends once, she and I, that's all."

"It didn't sound or feel that way."

He searched her eyes, but found nothing he could heal with words.

He pulled her into his arms, cradling the back of her head as she buried herself gratefully in his chest. Her arms were tighter around his waist than they had ever been before, and for a moment he could only rock her and hope she would understand.

Hope the situation could fix itself.

A minute passed, perhaps two, or perhaps it was several hours, but she pulled away nonetheless, looking down at her feet, and just breathing.

He felt her fingers tighten on his arms-- in an attempt to calm her, he ran a gentle palm through her spiked hair, trying to bid her mind know peace. She looked up at him, almost questionably, but in the instant their eyes locked the doubt was swept away, and nothing remained but a clear answer.

He leaned in to kiss her, and she was waiting when he did.

It was gentle, chaste, with a hint of hesitation. He tried to commandeer his action in the direction of healing, appreciation, assurance. She returned them with trust, memory... oh, so much memory... and peace. She was so peaceful, at last, and she beckoned more of him only to help her understand. To give her a soundness of who the boy that shared her kiss was.

But suddenly, with his lips lifting, there was a second for the world and it's worries to soar back into her. The peace that had risen vanished.

And something new took it's place. Something new and dark that she hadn't expected.

The world and it's power.

She broke off slowly at first, and then even pushed at his arms to prevent his affection. He opened his eyes to stare at her, watch in growing concern as she struggled for breath, blinking, looking anywhere but into his eyes.

"What is it?" he whispered, trying to direct her back to his chest, but she appeared to be panting, slowing his hands in growing anxiety.

"Kioki... Ki, what's wrong?"  
"I--" she struggled to find voice, holding at her throat, and finally looked up into his eyes.

"Would you give me some space?" she asked kindly, desperately, and pulled from his arms, beginning to run blindly away... just away...

"Kioki!"

She gasped, clutching her throat, running faster and faster... growing weaker and weaker...

The world frayed at the edges of her vision. Darkness rimmed the streets before her...

She could barely hear Jet's own running steps behind her, and in the back of her mind tried to outrun him...

She lost it all... all the... sounds... lights... voices...

Jet's voice...

The last thing her senses knew were Jet's arms catching her before her head could hit the stone as she fell.


	19. Chapter 19: New's Start

19

**A/N**: Thanx a ton you guys for all your reviews and subscriptions! it makes my day! you have lots to anticipate, so i hope you can keep reading!

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Song ran.

The rain was coming. It fell about her like tears... the world was crying with her. She kept running, hoping some how when she got home she would be able to forget any of this happened.

She realized what had happened in that room.

Her scar hadn't called to Zuko's power as much as Zuko's power had called to her scar.

It made her feel sick, thinking of what that would do to Zuko, and she used the anxiety to fuel her run.

She could see her home appearing at the end of the street.

When she was closer, she could see her mother on the front step, waiting for her.

She fell through the rain and into her arms, and hoped the tears would stop.

------------

"Have you seen Maanyu today, Zuko?"  
Zuko capped the tea kettle and turned from the stove.

"No."

Iroh bunched his lips in thought.

"Hmmm... well, he was feeling a little sick this morning. I guess he went home. I gave him permission, after all."  
"Great," Zuko said. "That makes me feel appreciated."  
Iroh frowned, then reached over Zuko's arm to calm the fire under the kettle, that had been neglected by his nephew.

"So... when did Song leave?"  
"Back at the apartment. I told her to go home."  
"Is there... something you want to tell me?"  
Zuko glanced askance at him, then sighed irritably.

"No. I just... didn't want her there anymore."  
Iroh studied him closely. A dark circle rimmed the belly of his good eye. The corners of his mouth sagged in a more stressed grimace.

"Do you feel all right? You look a little pale."

"I'm just..." Zuko bit his lip, struggling to find control. "Honestly, Uncle, I'm just a little low on energy..."

"Something's happened," Iroh said quietly, staring at Zuko. Zuko was hesitant to return his gaze.

"Something has happened that's altered the abilities of your existence as a firebender, and you're handing it to me as a _loss_ of _energy_?"

"Uncle--"  
"Well,_ yeah, _that's a loss of energy!"  
"Uncle! Keep it down!" Zuko turned his back to the customers. But Iroh didn't show one hint of concern for discretion.

"You and I are going to have a talk right this minute," he said, grabbing Zuko's sleeve. "And you're going to tell me _every_ _single_ detail of what happened today, and we're going to conclude this once and for all. And you're _not_ going to feed me _any_ excuses!" he added, lifting a finger at Zuko's open mouth ready to retort. Zuko's eyes narrowed, and his lip curled. He fell into angered silence.

Iroh lead him around the counter by the fabric of his shoulder into the employee's room. Zuko shoved him away, folding his arms across his chest and walking to the window while Iroh worked to lock the door.

"All right," he said, turning to his nephew. "Now tell me everything."

Zuko remained silent for a moment, staring out at the falling rain. Iroh could not see it, but there was a conclusion of his own in his golden eyes, and so when he turned back to relate the story, he sounded more willing that Iroh expected.

"An hour ago, I healed Song's scar," he said. Iroh stared, eyes narrowing in curiosity.

"That must have to do with your..." but he trailed off at Zuko's glare.

"Let me finish," he said. He looked back out the window, and then continued.

"Before I did, her scar was glowing red, like the fire that burned her. Then my hand glowed, and a certain white flame encircled it. From there, I was able to spread white fire over her scar. The fire healed her scar, as if everything had been planned to happen this way. It was like her scar was calling to my ability... or my ability was calling to her scar."  
Iroh blinked, staring in wonder.

"So this proves it then... You really are sharing a Clash with a waterbender! You've been given their ability to heal!"

"Uncle..." Zuko closed his eyes. "You can't heal a scar."

Iroh was quiet, trying to process his mind. He studied his nephew's profile, the sorrow that lined it.

"Zuko... There are properties in water that defy the human body. You have not been Clashed with an ordinary waterbender, but with one that carries unique properties himself, or herself. Not just in their water, but in their heart."  
"And I posses none?" he snapped, turning to glare.

"You do!" Iroh said, holding up his hands in desperation. "Don't you see, Zuko? You healed her scar with fire, not water! You and the waterbender are Clashed in the first place because you share similar spiritual powers, and you act with those powers in identical ways."

"It just doesn't make sense..." Zuko turned back to the window. "Why would Song's scar call to be healed and not mine?"  
Iroh blinked. For some reason, he hadn't expected this. It had escaped his mind.

"That... is for the spirits to answer. The spirits that gave you this Clash."  
"Yeah..." Zuko's brow lowered ominously. "I'd have a few things to say to them..."

"Zuko, a scar is more than just a physical mark," Iroh said. "There are spiritual properties inside a scar that shape our soul, our actions. Something in Song's scar was ready to be released."

"_Ready_?" Zuko whirled at him. "As if mine is not ready to be healed? For three years I've had to carry this, as a mark of disgrace! And I've tried to walk away from it! I've forsaken my _family name _to try and see past what it marks me as, to try and deny that. And you think it is not _ready_ to be healed?"

"I know it isn't," Iroh said. His voice was quiet, serene, yet it carried a suspense, a weight, that brushed shivers along Zuko's arms.

"You have created an illusion in your mind that someday your destiny will be resolved on it's own accord, that you still are something you've been told to become. But your scar's mark will not be sated, and your own future will not be decided, until _you_ decide for yourself what you want from your life, and why!"

Zuko's teeth clenched.

"How dare you say that..."

"I say it with all the wisdom of life I have gathered," Iroh replied boldly. "You are not an instrument to be handled through the hands of another, Zuko. You have been given this scar as a test of your own mind, and will. When you decide to take control of it, it will have served it's purpose, and will then be allowed to go."

"I hate what you say!"  
"I know that, and I'm sorry. But what other path haven't you tried yet? Like you said, you've tried everything, made all the effort. Except the one of your heart, and what it wants."

Zuko spun away, clenching his fists, and Iroh remained there in silence with him. Minutes passed. At last the fire in Zuko's blood was calmed-- his shoulders dropped and his head was lowered, and turned slightly to admit a profile of his face to Iroh.

"Uncle... what do my visions mean?"  
He sounded desperate, as if balanced between the threshold of despair and relief, and the need for explanation finally had overcome his pride. He could hide and deny no longer the power that had stirred inside him.

Iroh nodded approvingly.

"What do you see?" he asked tenderly.

Zuko looked up into the stormy sky outside... his eyes searched the distance, as far out in the city as he could reach.

"What I see is an ocean, rising to embrace the sun. Waves sever themselves from the sea to encase the sun. The two entities rotate together in harmony. In my mind, I feel no objection to the strangeness of the water's behavior. It isn't strange, to me. It is... expected. Destined."

He turned back to Iroh.

"I need to know who I'm Clashed with. It could answer so much."  
"Indeed it could. But there's something you need to understand, Zuko, and maybe you already do, but if not, listen now... There are two units of power involved here. One, is the waterbender you are Clashed with. The other, is the destiny the two of you are bound to."

Zuko stared, and then suddenly threw a roaring ring of fire to his side. Iroh blinked, flinching, as Zuko turned to him, fury contorting his face.  
"What?" he yelled, steam rising from his knuckles. "You just said I had to decide for myself what destiny I wanted! And now you're saying I'm bound to a destiny? How can I believe all this is true when there's too many contradicting facts?"

"Zuko--"

"What is it you want from me, Uncle? Do you want me to pursue what I want, or what this connection wants _from_ me? Answer me!"  
Iroh stared in dismay, hands dropped helplessly at his sides.

"I want _you_ to pursue the destiny _you_ want, Zuko. That is what I want. But--"

"No." Zuko turned away, trembling with rage and decision.

"All right. Now I'm going to decide what I want. I'm going to do exactly what you've wanted me to do all these years."

"Zuko--"

"I'm going to get rid of this Clash, for good. I'm going to give whatever drop of water is inside my back to who it belongs, and take back whatever fire they have that is mine."

"Zuko! You can't! The spirits--"  
"Don't tell me what I can or can't do!" Zuko began to move towards him. "I'm finally taking action for my own destiny. You should be happy, Uncle, and grateful!"

Iroh stared at him in despair, pleading.

"Grateful you're throwing away something that is yours?" he whispered. His eyes begged, reaching to Zuko with all the might they could muster...

But Zuko didn't see it.

"If this connection is so strong, it shouldn't be too hard to find the other end," he said. "I'm finally going to be free of all this nonsense."  
And he brushed roughly past Iroh, like he had before, but out to a different horizon.

------------

Night fell, and the Blue Spirit stepped out under the dark clouds to discover his path.

Gloved hands were cupped before his heart, and he bid the power inside him to swell. All around him, he could feel the touch of the sea intrude on the night air, encompass all the atmosphere in salty spray.

He w atched the waves of a nonexistent sea flood the streets of Ba Sing Se. They came from the sky, from the setting sun, soaring overhead and dipping into the city like a plague sent from heaven. Down they plunged, hitting the dirt streets with an onslaught of angelic voices. The Blue Spirit could see the fire within their bellies, the creamy-red light glowing like a visible soul through a shell of water.

The waves pounded the city in a raging attack of energy-- the twisted in and out of the stone alleyways, around the corners, slamming up against wall after wall, building after building, spreading and pounding farther and farther, harder and harder, until through his mind's eyes, the Blue Spirit could see the entire city engulfed in the sea from his visions.

The fire within them burned his acknowledgment, and gathered together from all the corners of the city, to form one direct path of flame. It stretched before him like a guiding finger, a warm welcome of pursuit.

Of victory.

The Blue Spirit stepped into the pulsing waves, into the path of fire, and followed it.

The city slept on, undisturbed.

--------------

Lisyyun watched Suki's movements. She rotated her wrists, flexed her fingers, called on the art they studied to calm her raging bones and muscles.

"Are you guys ready to give it another shot?" she asked finally, catching Lisyyun's eye. She looked at Yushura, who was propped against the cave wall, her wounded leg bent carefully.

Yushura looked at the two kneeling girls before her, focusing in on Lisyyun. Lisyyun returned her questionable gaze with one of assurance. Sated, Yushura turned back to Suki, and nodded.

"All right," Suki said enthusiastically, and stood, smiling.

"We're going to make it out of here, I know it."  
"Yeah..." Yushura cradled her stomach as it growled in hunger. "I just hope before we starve to death."  
"We'll need water before we'll need food," Lisyyun murmured.

But Suki wasn't listening. With determination, she made her way to their executed standpoint. Lisyyun rubbed her own arm-- the numbness had worn off about twenty minutes after they had hit the rock-- and that had been a couple hours ago. Suki had made care to see they pace themselves, make sure they only deliver one hit every few hours or so. If they inflicted too much damage on themselves, they might be trapped forever with no success.

Suki closed her eyes, sliding her fingers together, bringing them down to her abdomen in careful meditation. Her ankle curved in preparation, and then she began to administer the dance. She moved with a pinch less of grace, for the previous hit had not only numbed her arm but had rumbled every bone in her body. This time her dance was slower, far more concentrated. Yushura and Lisyyun were silent as the dead, watching her.

Suki's brow gathered in a strengthening glare, and her teeth met in a fierce clench. Her fingers formed a fist, coming up before her closed eyes like the brandishing of a sword.

At last the final twirl was given, and she used it's momentum to send her knuckles into the stone again with a delivering cry.

The cave rumbled as it had before with the force of her blow. Another layer of dust cascaded as the rock was weakened. Suki fell away, trying to control her throbbing arm.

"I think... I'm getting better at that," she said weakly, forcing a smile.

Lisyyun and Yushura smiled back. After a moment, the first looked down at the latter.

"Come on, Yushura," she said. "I think we should deliver one together."

"Yeah," Yushura said. "It could speed things up."  
"Why didn't I think of that?" Suki said, chuckling nervously. Lisyyun and Yushura joined in as they climbed to their feet.

Yushura no longer needed aid when walking, but she sported a heavy limp as she went beside a watchful Lisyyun. Suki stepped back, watching Yushura too incase she suddenly fell.

Lisyyun glanced at her companion, and Yushura nodded. Together they lifted their hands as Suki had done, and side by side began to work the dance. Suki stood by, massaging her arm, observing in excitement, concern, and admiration. Yushura's movements were not stressed at all due to her wound-- in her mind, she was able to dispel it's existence from her nerves.

They reached the final motion, and in unison sent their fists into the rock. A rumble twice as loud and twice as powerful rattled through Suki's bones.

Igniting her excitement.

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**A/N**: eeeh, i'm worried. i didn't proof read this one so well- i was blasting the Moulin Rouge soundtrack in my headphones and in the same room my brothers were watching Scooby Doo so... hehe not much concentration. but i tried! i hope it turned out okay!


	20. Chapter 20: End of Part Two

20

**A/N**: At last, the moment you've all been waiting for: the first spark of Zutara! And it may even be a little fluffy! (Which isn't a bad thing) Whew, that was a lot of buildup, wasn't it? This is also the finale of Part Two. Hey, also, sorry for the delay-- I just got Harry Potter 7, so yeah, kinda preoccupied. Enjoy! Reviews are cookies!!

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The Blue Spirit was the silent stealth he had always been- there was no doubt in his steps, only resolution. Trust. The pathway of flame that intertwined throughout the flooded city lead him straight and true, never letting small wisps of flame stray and misguide him. He knew, deep in his gut, that this connection was real, that it would not fail him.

The fire burned brighter. He was getting closer to his Clash.

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"Katara?"  
Maanyu blinked away the blurry haze from his eyes-- her figure sharpened before him, her slender back curved before a dark patch that soon focused into a stone wall.

Her blue eyes flew to his-- a bell-clear smile broke her face that banished any remaining fog that hugged the corners of his vision.

"Maanyu! You're back!"

He tried to smile weakly in return but wasn't sure how successful his efforts were. He didn't have much time to think, either, because a moment later she was standing before him, clasping his hands between the two of them.

"It's so good to see you! You know, that didn't take very long," she added slyly, pulling him into her blue gaze like a hypnotist.

"It didn't?" Maanyu blinked, struggling to break her eyes, and looked up at the black sky. He realized they stood underneath a lantern-- that was why he could see her so clearly. The streets were quiet, painted peaceful obsidian, lying in wait for the next day, hoping it wouldn't be as rainy as the one before. The scent of rain was still in the air-- maybe it had showered recently. Her rubbed at his neck, narrowing his gaze in an effort to clear a clouded mind.

"I don't... I mean..." He cocked his head, as if to clear water from his ears. Katara's smile faded, and she studied him closely.

"Are you..."

He blinked again, and found himself thrust into the bowels of confusion. Something wasn't right... something was missing. Though in his memory, he could detect no unnatural...

It... was... distant...

What happened?

"Maanyu?"  
He finally found her amidst the disarray of thoughts-- she was staring at him worriedly, even reaching out a hand towards his face.

"I'm..."  
"Are you okay? You look..."

She ran cautious fingers over his brow, and he felt some conscious side of his mind resist melting at her touch.

"Maanyu, what happened? You're shaking."  
"I..." Maanyu ran desperate hands over his arms. "I don't really remember. Nothing strange... They just talked to me about..."  
At last something in his mind seemed to click, and he heard breath flow from his lips in relief.

"They talked to me about my lapses," he said, looking at her with a firmer gaze, but still was far from possessing strength to smile. "Now I remember."

"Your lapses?" She raised her eyebrows.

He bit his lip, realizing she didn't know.

"Oh... yeah. Here, walk with me, I'll tell you."  
She nodded uneasily, falling into step beside him. He swallowed, trying to direct his mind anywhere but the moments when their arms would brush together.

After a moment of gathering his thoughts, he began.

"I have sun sicknesses. Meaning at least once a month I can have a negative reaction to the sunlight. I've had them all my life, or at least as long as I can remember."  
"How serious are they?" Her voice was quiet- she sounded genuinely concerned.

"Uh... they range," he replied casually. "Some in the past have threatened my life... others are just like regular colds or upset stomachs."

She bit her lip.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's no big deal..." He swallowed again, feeling their knuckles strike like matches wishing to ignite.

"Sorry--" she muttered briskly, moving away a couple inches.

"No problem--" he brought his lips between his teeth in slight reluctance.

"Um-- so, yeah, I guess they found out about them somehow. I haven't made it totally public... In fact, I think you're the first person I've told."

"When then, how do you think they know?" Katara shook her head. "It's all just a little vague."

"Yeah... But I'm too low on energy to worry about it."  
"Right, you must be exhausted--" Katara clipped his arm to lead him around a corner. "Here. This will get us quicker to..."

But she trailed off, both in voice and in step, and he stopped and turned to glance at her.

"Erm, sorry," she said, meeting his gaze. "But I'm leading us towards _my_ residence."

He managed a smile. "That's fine. I, um... I'll just go from here."

"No," she said quickly, shaking her head. "I'll walk you home-- I can get back here on my own."  
"Are you sure?"  
"Oh, yeah-- this place is a lot easier to maneuver at night, strange as that is."  
"Actually, I believe you," he muttered, and couldn't help feeling slightly happier as she moved to his side again.

"So, these lapses... is there a way to heal them? Or at least tend to them when they occur?"  
"No," he said regretfully. "I basically just have to... tough them out."  
"That must be so frustrating."  
"Sometimes. It depends on how severe they are."

"But you mentioned... some were critical enough to threaten your life. What do you do then?"  
He slowed, his gaze falling, and she waited modestly, hands linking under her bosom.

"Well, the thing is... the only lapse that's ever _seriously_ threatened my life took place... when I was still at the North Pole. There, I was rushed to the Spirit Oasis where, well, the elder waterbenders were able to save me. You know of the Oasis, don't you?"  
"Yes," she said softly, her brow turned up in sympathy. He met her gaze and hid an appreciative smile.

"How old were you?" She sounded like she was daring herself to pursue questions.

He puckered his lips, thinking. "Thirteen. And actually that was... a week before I left the North Pole altogether... Wow, four years I've been away. It feels so much longer than it really is."

"I'm... sorry."

He chuckled.

"Don't worry, I don't regret it."

She nodded unsteadily. "You left when you were thirteen?"

"Yep."

"Alone?"  
He met her eyes again-- she looked shocked, worried... it was hard to tell.

"Yeah." He averted his gaze slowly, finding release in the patterns of stone beneath their feet.

"Oh."

He lifted his head, expecting--wanting-- her to say more, but she didn't. Her own gaze was lowered and she traveled with her hands linked gently behind her back. He realized she was keeping out for his privacy-- she had concluded that whatever the reason he left must have been personal.

She had no idea how right she was.

_Don't let them touch you!  
_Something burst in the back of his mind and he nearly was incapable to continue walking. They had reached an open courtyard, rimmed with bushes and trees, a small circuit of benches in the center.

He saw none of it, only a blinding, flashing yellow light.

_No! Maanyu! Resist!_

The voice was ever so cold, throwing sheets of chills over his arms and back. He struggled to dispel it, to ignore it, but the light was searing before his gaze and he found himself clutching his knees, bent over as the rising bile of a lapse took hold of him.

But it wasn't until a second later that he realized it wasn't a lapse at all, but the spark of memory.

_There is a war within our walls. It must be found. You must find it, Maanyu._

_You must find the firebenders._

This was a new voice, one smooth and calm but just as cold as the first. It brought a pant from his lips-- he struggled to stay upright.

Hot breath stung his face-- the first voice was thrown against his skin like a blast of ice water.

_No, Maanyu! Don't! Don't listen to them! Get out of here, now! _

"Katara--"

She was already beside him, clutching his shoulders, speaking his name.

"Maanyu--!"  
"Katara, they-- the Dai Li--"  
He felt his palms hit the dirt, and he shook his head frantically.

"A light--"  
_The fire nation are our enemies. They seek to infiltrate our city._

_There is war within our walls. You must find the firebenders, Maanyu._

"They did something-- my memory-- I can't--"

"Maanyu, please-- What did they do to you?"  
He felt her hands on his face, her warm breath against his neck...

_We cannot allow you to speak any further._

This voice was not distant and dreary like the others, but bold like a winter's wind. It carried across his mind, singing to be heard, dominating all other thoughts.

_I'm sorry..._

_We cannot allow you to speak any further..._

Katara's eyes leapt from Maanyu's bent head to the sound of a twig snapping somewhere to her left.

Ten yards away, the bushes ruffled. Dark shadows spilled from their tresses--

The gaunt, stoic faces of twelve Dai Li agents hit the moonlight, and the blood froze in Katara's veins.

"I'm sorry," the lead said robotically. "We cannot allow you to speak any further."  
--------------

The Blue Spirit could feel the fire pulsing at his knees, could taste it's heat rising higher and higher as it's connected end became nearer and nearer. The stone walls of the streets whispered him on-- the waves reflected off the moonlight, throwing twisting water mirages across the walls of shops and apartments. He was wading in tunnels of invisible pulsing sea, gloved hands flexed at his sides. He felt the weight of his swords along his back, the sharp air of coming mischief... This was where he belonged, on the brink of disaster and content. Suspicion. It sang to him as he moved, silent as the shadow he was. His draconic face shone bright above the waves only he could see... but he was another lifeless shape in the reality of the streets.

The fire flickered, turning a sharp corner. The Blue Spirit cringed doubtfully, almost hesitating, but was able to urge his feet into trust and follow as he had been for the last ten minutes. At times he would be swept up in the nonexistent waves, and forget where he was. He made a careful note to check about himself, to travel with light feet. He surrendered himself to the art of his disguise-- to the grace and swiftness his swords carried. He channeled it into his body; the intensity evaporated, leaving only confidence... and anticipation.

_Freedom from this curse at last._

The fire lead him into what felt like a tunnel: it was an alleyway, that he knew, but far more narrow than the others and it seemed to snake in different directions. He felt doubtful about it, but the fire's light stayed true, so _he_ stayed true to _it_. He found himself almost jogging-- he could feel the presence of his Clashed. His greatest hopes had been realized: the waterbender was here in Ba Sing Se. He heard himself sigh in relief-- he kept focused on the pathway of fire, zealous to complete it, to find the Clashed at last...

The fire ended. It was snuffed out completely, vanquished in the blink of an eye. He stared about his knees, realizing the pulsing waves had disappeared too. There was nothing about him but he dirt and stone of the streets. He was just about to curse in anger when--

He realized this was the end of the twisting alley. He faced the south end of the city, where Chameleon Bay lay as a flat strip of horizon in the distance.

A courtyard of black stone spilled out before him now, garnished with brush. Cautiously he went for the hilt of his swords, and drew them silently, bringing them quickly behind his back to avoid revealing a flash of silver.

He took a careful step into the courtyard--

And he saw them.

Actually, he heard them first. Moaning, short breath. He followed the sound directly too them; they seemed to stand out so magnificently he found himself wondering why on earth he had not immediately spotted their presence.

Two watertribesmen, a girl and a boy, dressed in appropriate blue. He could not make out their faces, only their slender forms: the boy was the one kneeling... he knew because the one standing had an obvious female form. They were azure shapes in the night, fifty or so paces from a street lamp.

A twig snapped in the brush and the girl lifted her head-- the light fell upon her face--

Prince Zuko's insides dropped into his ankles, spinning all the way down. His mind screeched with a blast of memory, his heart singing it's triumph.

It was the waterbender that traveled with the Avatar. He knew it was her-- deep in his gut, he simply knew it. She had to be the one, she just had to be-- as revolting and frightening as it sounded to him, he knew it was true. There just was not a single shadow of doubt. He had found the Clashed, the other end of his dangling connection. How, and why, and when would have to wait. They didn't matter. He tried to fight back the blazing discomfort in his gut, to replace it with determination.

He drew forth his swords, preparing the confrontation--

"I'm sorry. We cannot allow you to speak any further."

He felt his heart leap-- against his will, channeled by instinct, he threw himself back into the shadows.

A dozen or so dark figures stepped from the brush, completely invisible a moment before. Their sweeping robes and triangular hats told the Blue Spirit instantly-- Dai Li. The agents loomed like dark emerald wraiths summoned to bring forth ill tidings. The Blue Spirit forced himself against the wall, deafened by his beating heart, and watched desperately.

The girl stood erect before the crouched boy, hands fisted viciously at her sides.

"Stay away!" she yelled.

_I THOUGHT YOU HAD CHANGED!_

The voice slammed into him like a sock in the gut and he audibly grunted, losing balance-- he could feel the icy ridges of the sea waves licking at the fraying ends of his mind... he had heard that voice so many times, so forcefully, in his visions...

How wonderful it would feel to finally get it out, to be rid of it forever.

He breathed easier just thinking about it.

"Please separate yourself from the unwell," the agent replied calmly, mechanically, staring blankly into her eyes. "You may catch something dangerous."  
"I'm not going anywhere!" she shot back. "Not until you tell me what you did to him!"

"Katara--" the boy gasped, struggling to his feet, "Just go--"  
"No!" she wailed. "I won't!"  
"Katara, please-- I can't-- let you get hurt--"

"He speaks wisely," the agent droned on. "Please agree to exit the courtyard, and we can avoid any unfriendly confrontations."  
"This _is_ an unfriendly confrontation," Katara spat. "You'll have to fight me to get him!"

"So brave," the agent mused, lifting a finger. "So foolish."

_No._

Zuko's stomach churned in horror-- if something happened to her, he may never be able to sever the Clash. He had finally figured all this out, had finally found her-- he wasn't about to let her be taken away like this.

He had to do something.

Katara's palms began to throb at the force she was fisting her fingers-- she looked past her whitened knuckles at Maanyu, who had finally made it to standing position behind her.

"Katara, you don't know... what you're doing--"

"I won't let them hurt you," she whispered. "Not again."  
"And I won't let them hurt _you_!" he hissed, and seized her shoulders to spin her around--

A cry of shock erupted through the quiet tension of the scene. All heads snapped to where a Dai Li agent crumpled to his knees.

Above his head, the white outlines of a startling half-man, half-dragon face shone through the darkness. Brandished below the face were the slender glistenings of two obvious swords, reflecting the moon like blades of starlight.

"Seize him!" The lead agent cried.

Eleven fists shot forward-- a swarm of shapes dark and almost invisible shot off like rockets from their knuckles--

The figure jumped, a slender form black and silent as night, wielding the two slabs of moonlight like wings to carry him in and out of their attacks. Clouds of dust rose where his swords made obvious contact with something earthy-- He flipped and twisted about them, challenging them.

Katara and Maanyu stared in shock, frozen over, watching the nigh undetectable figure curve and parry in his defense. The dragon-man face smiled wickedly out at them in the light of the moon-- his laughing, open mouth garnished with dragon's fangs, large empty eyes wide and expressionless. Lifeless.

A mask.

Katara felt her breath leave her chest as the lead agent spun back to face them.

"Avoid him if you can! Get the waterbender!"

More dark objects Katara came to recognize as their rock bust hands whirled towards the space between her eyes-- she had barely lifted her arms in defense before the two whirling blades sliced before her, shattering the hands with a valiant ring. The figure's breath was hard and low in front of her, power leaking from his back that sent a paralysis over her muscles.

"You have to get out of here," a voice said from behind the mask. It was strained with breath, unrecognizable. A male's voice... quite young... In it's harshness there was not just urgency, not just anger, but...

...concern.

"Now!" He snapped when she remained frozen, and she blinked her shock to spin and grab Maanyu's wrist.

"Follow me!" she whispered frantically to him, as the masked figure parried several more attacks.

She ran with Maanyu as far as the exit from the courtyard, trying to ignore the shouts from the Dai Li agents, and allowed herself a brief second to look over her shoulder at their defender--

He had turned as well, to make sure they were making it out safely. She stared straight into those empty, soulless black eyes and seemed to find emotion behind their material, the face behind the mask, staring straight into the back of her heart.

It was a fraction of a second that their eyes had met, a blink in the forever revolving cycle of time, but in the hands of a battle it a was stretching moment where defenses had waned.

Something clipped the figure's arm and he was jerked off balance, cringing, clutching his tricep-- an audible growl sounded from beneath his mask. Katara heard herself gasp.

"Katara!"

Maanyu leapt back into her mind and she turned to dash with him as fast from the battle as they could run--

"No!" The Dai Li agent roared in the midst of the duel. "After them! Sweep the city!"

The masked man charged them, swords blazing like silver fire. The agent lifted his hands, bringing up the earth from beneath the man's feet. The figure leapt with it, using it to propel him up, over, down--

The ringing of his blades singed the agent's ears as he was knocked backwards, rammed by the man's falling figure.

His head hit the stone hard, and at the edges of his peripheral vision, he could see the slender, flawless edges of two blades sank deep into the earth on either side of his head, a whisper from his hears.

The draconic face glowered down upon him, as demonic as anything the man had seen. In spite of himself, fear gripped the agent's heart, but he glared into the empty eyes with all the ferocity he could muster.

"Call off the pursuit," the mask hissed. A cold shudder erupted over the agent's skin-- he cursed it, cursed their failed assault.

Cursed the demon spirit before him who had ruined it all.

"_Now_," it snarled, and he could feel the cold steel pressing against the sides of his brow-- The man stood with his legs on either side of his sprawled torso, arms thrust forward, pulling the swords freer and freer of the earth, until their tips would run along the agent's flesh, leaving trails of blood in their path.

The agent choked on his own defeat, and trembled in the rage that sent perspiration over his nose and eyes.

"Dai Li! Stop!"

The agents that had reached the edges of the courtyard halted dramatically, though most had been petrified by the sight of their lead threatened so. The streets were silent again, but inside the agent's ears, the only thing he could hear was the ringing of defeat, of humiliation... of perfect rage.

"Never approach them again," the mask whispered icily, drawing his swords from the agent's head, "or I won't hesitate to approach _you_."  
The agent was free to move but made no motion-- he remained sealed to the ground as if by chains.

There was a gust of wind from the south, carrying the scent of the sea on it's back, and the draconic face was gone.

-------------

Maanyu fell against the wall of a nearby building, Katara close to follow. Gasping for breath, they struggled to hold themselves upright.

"Are-- are you okay?" she whispered, pressing her fingers over his.

"Yeah," he replied. "You?"  
"Fine."

Blood pounding mercilessly in her veins, she lifted herself from the wall to stare down the alleyways and corners from which they had come.

"What-- What _was_ that thing?" Maanyu panted at her back.

The wind swept soundlessly over the streets, bringing small waves of sand around her ankles, ruffling the loose wisps of hair on her face.

There was nothing but the night to reply.

"I don't know," Katara whispered. "But he just might've saved our lives."

---

END OF PART TWO

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N**: (And also Day Two) I have only one thing to say. ZUTARA FOREVER!


	21. Chapter 21: Part Three

PART THREE

---

21

**A/N**: Ohhhhkay sorry about the delay on the last chapter guys, i'll try to make it up to you. (Just cuz i'm writing like three different sagas right now AND trying to finish HP: Deathly Hallows soooo... busy! i know, doesn't sound busy, but to me it is ;)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Katara slid her hand around the stone wall after her on about the fifteenth corner she had turned in the last five minutes.

Nothing.

Everywhere she had looked, everywhere! And not a single glimpse of a blue draconic face. She had begun to grow rather disheartened, and even wondered when she had awoken that morning whether it had all been no more than a dream. She had returned home past midnight at least-- taking Maanyu home and then finding her own way back to the apartment had taken at least an hour. So when she had finally collapsed onto the first bed she had come across, which had happened to be Sokka's snoring chest, and from there was escorted by a grumbling big brother to her own bed, she had fallen so deeply asleep that any activity the night before felt like a dream now.

Except him. Except the blue face, smiling with pertruding fangs, eyes black and empty staring with ironically the most energy of life she had ever seen. That had stayed perfectly real.

Yet doubt had crept into her the first few minutes of her search-- however now, an hour into it, she was fully awake and refreshed and knew without a flaw in her mind that the man had been real, and he had protected she and Maanyu, had saved them.

And so she was going to find him. Find him and thank him, like every sensible person would.

She smiled to herself as she admitted it was not only to apologize-- the man had greatly fascinated her. Honestly, how many men wearing dragon masks and weailding broadswords do you come across? She felt like a child, seeking after some adult idol that dazzled their small minds senseless.

She tried to take pride in the fact, and kept searching.

The sun was out again. Ba Sing Se was as it should be. The streets were boisterous again, the marketers loud and haughty, the customers heckled and whiny. Children and play balls and barking weasel-dogs scampered about her knees every so often-- distant music played at corners past, corners to come... It felt much more like a city than it had the previous day.

Two very young children brushed considerably close to her legs as they rushed by-- she was not irritated, she just had to catch herself as they knocked her off balance. In fact she smiled, watching a girl's flying black hair flutter in and out of reach of her pursuer, a small boy about her age that looked like he had just emerged from a lake.

"You pushed me in!" he whined, yet sharing in the girl's mirth, struggling to grasp any inch of her he could. "You're gonna get it!"

Sand stuck to his small ankles and coated his feet like frosting-- Katara kept her eye on them as she walked, a fond smirk on her lips.

They scampered towards a rather empty market stand, a place Katara soon confirmed as one to buy jewelry and such related items. She stepped into the shade of the markets, ignoring the advertisements of sellers, just as an excuse to watch the children more. For a moment she realized this distracted from the reason she had gotten up at six in the morning in the first place, but shrugged it off and decided she deserved a rest from searching for someone she was convinced didn't want to be found.

The marketer at the accessory stand was a plump woman flooded in necklaces and jewelry of her own, and had her chin in her linked fingers, brandishing ruby rings while watching the small children fondly. A giggle escaped her pursed, heavily-painted lips when the boy managed to wrestle the girl to the sand. Katara watched them closer and decided they were siblings-- they shared the same nose, and had identical emerald eyes bright with mirth.

After a moment the boy became interested in a nearby stray weasel-dog, and whilst attempting to befriend it, allowed his sister to slip from his clutches. She stood on her tip toes, tiny fingers grasping the edge of the stand's counter, and admired the jewelry atop with wide eyes, a mouth circular in awe.

"Wooowww!" she breathed.

"Do you like them?" the marketer lady giggled, caressing the girl's fingers affectionately.

"Yes, I do!" the girl squeaked, beaming. "Can I have one?"  
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear, but you're mommy would have to come pay for them," the lady said chidingly.

"My mommy?" the girl repeated, looking down in dismay at the arrangement of necklaces.

"Oh... okay."  
"How much is one of those?"

A new voice broke the conversation-- mature, smooth, and fictitiously handsome. The marketer and child-- and Katara-- looked up to acknowledge the tall figure standing beside the stand, encased in it's tarp's shadow.

Katara grimaced, her mood flaring.

Jet's disarming smile descended upon the marketer lady-- she straightened instantly in her seat, every detail of her body taking on the highest flirtatious level possible-- from her ruby painted fingernails set posingly about her double chins, to her overly painted eyelashes batting furiously as it trying to dispell a bright light.

"_Jet_," she chided, rapping his knuckles affectionately as they were set on the counter. "You naughty boy, you already know the prices, you come here everyday..."

She giggled and Katara thought she might vomit. But Jet only shook his head, wrinkling his nose playfully.

"Not nearly everyday, Lekaaia."

He squatted down next to the little girl.

"What's your name?" he asked kindly, charmingly. She blushed, tugging at the strands of hair around her face.

"Teysuyi," she murmured, barely audible. She was as red as a radish.

"Teysuyi," Jet repeated fluently, smiling softly. "It sounds like a princess's name. Are you a princess?"  
She giggled. "No..."  
"I think you are," Jet said, rising to a stand. "And a princess as beautiful as yourself deserves a beautiful crown."  
Her eyes brightened.

"A crown?" she breathed.

Her brother had failed at winning the weasel-dog's attention and turned back to his sister.

"Who's he?" he asked, pointing up at Jet.

"Her Royal Highness, Princess Teysuyi's chariot boy," Lekaaia responded, winking. Jet nodded.

"Which would make you a prince, if I'm not mistaken," he said officially.  
"I wanna be a king!" the boy said gleefully.

Jet chuckled. "Well, you have to marry a girl before you can do that."

"Why?" the boy replied indignantly. "Girls are icky."  
"Are not!" Teysuyi retorted, and Katara couldn't help thinking of Sokka's occasional sexism, chuckling as she did.

"One day," Jet said while handling something in his pocket, "you, my friend, will realize that girls are as far from icky as you can possibly imagine. Well, most, at least."  
"Nuh-_uh_!" The boy parried.

"Yeah-_huh_," Jet whined back, grinning, putting something down on the counter top.

"Let me just advise you, though, before you get too old to care, like me." He folded his arms across his chest and looked at the boy carefully.

"Never marry a girl that's stronger than you," he said seriously, yet he smiled. "It could end... messy."

At that, Katara felt her heart leap, recognizing instantly the reference. Strangely, she didn't know whether to feel offended, smug, amused... She consented to scowling in his direction.

"Nah," the boy said. "Girls aren't stronger than boys."  
"You think so?" Jet said fondly.

"Yeah," the boy said. "Girls cry a lot."  
"I don't cry a lot!" Teysuyi retorted, whirling at him.

"Here you go, Jet," Lekaaia hummed, smiling seductively, holding out a bundle of something he had purchased.

He smiled back, taking it gently. "Thanks."  
She giggled again, fingering one of her large violet earrings.

Jet casually unraveled the bundle to reveal a long, beautiful necklace of wooden charms. Teysuyi gasped.

"Is that for _me_?"

"Your crown, Your Highness," he said seriously, and lowered it around her neck. She watched it descend over her eyes, then gawked at it as it hung down along her belly, gazing in wonder at the carved charms.

"Look, Naika!" she squealed, spinning around to face her brother. "It's my crown! I'm a princess!"  
"It's too big," Naika observed disdainfully.

"I'll grow into it!" she snapped defensively. Lekaaia and Jet laughed.

"Come on, let's go show mommy!" she dashed out over the sand, towards Katara.

"Hey, wait!" Naika leapt from the dirt and started after her.

Lekaaia cradled her face in her hands, and then looked up at Jet.

"Aw, that was so sweet of you, Jet," she whimpered affectionately, batting her eyelashes again.

"Thanks for letting me dispense of your necklaces so freely," he replied carefully, watching the children run off, and she burst into giggles.

"Oh, Jet, _stop_ it!"

"Yes, Jet," Katara said. She planted herself in the shade of the shop tarp. "Do stop being so confusing."  
Jet's eyes widened and his lips parted-- genuine surprise shaped his dark face, and Lekaaia's eyes skipped skeptically from Jet to Katara, back and forth, back and forth...

"Katara?" Jet blinked. "What are you doing here?"  
"Looking..." Katara trailed off, biting her lip, shooting a scathing gaze towards him that bordered distaste and surrender.

"...Nothing," she replied lightly, shrugging carelessly, and then turned and began to walk off, clutching her arms and wondering madly over and over again why she had approached him...

Jet watched her, his eyes narrowing knowingly, and he leaned his head slightly in Lekaaia's direction, but he did not look at her.

"Excuse me..."

He brushed from the tarp's shade after Katara's back.  
"Ub--" The marketer's mouth flopped like a dead fish as she watched him walk away.

Katara heard his steps behind her and cursed, wincing. Great.

"Katara?"  
She stopped, and turned painfully to meet his eyes. There was a concern behind them, one that was genuine, and for a moment he was the breathtaking rogue she had hopelessly fallen for all those weeks ago in an autumn-splendored forest...

She blinked herself awake and pursed her lips.

"Is something wrong?" he asked tenderly.

"No," she said quickly, squinting against the sun. "Nothing's wrong, why would you think something's wrong?"

He lifted an eyebrow. "You look like you just..."

"Don't say it," she said, closing her eyes, but he had already trailed off.

"Was that kinda weird?" he said after a moment of silence.

She looked up at him. "What?"  
"Me, being the nice big brother," he answered. "Buying princess accessories for a little girl."  
"It was... a little step back from ambushing Fire Nation troops," she said, nodding, and couldn't help smiling too as he grinned.

"Well, I figured _that_," he said. He looked at her fondly for a long time... thoughtfully. But she was looking at the sand. At last she met his eyes.

"But... that was nice of you, Jet. I mean, did you know them?"  
"No," he replied, shrugging. "But I didn't know those Fire Nation troops."

She chuckled. "No... Well..."

"That didn't take very long," he said quietly, almost hesitantly, and she looked up in surprise.

"What didn't?"  
He was looking down at the sand, and returned her stare carefully.

"The whole... needing space from me," he said gently.

She stared at him, her heart begging to be angry, irritable, anything negative that would down his spirits, but for some reason... she didn't have the energy.

"I guess so," she said, studying his gaze. There was a flicker of relief behind those dark irises-- possibly also a hint of mischief?  
He smiled.

"Well, that's good. Hey, there's some people I want you to meet."  
"What?" She swallowed as he took her hand.

"C'mon, you like 'em. C'mon!" He laughed at her hesitation.

"I promise, they don't bite unless I tell them to. And they owe you something, anyway."

"I--" she sighed. "This doesn't mean you and I are on good terms!"

"Not even close," he agreed, nodding, and then tugged at her hand again. "Now, are you going to make me carry you?"

She shot him a stinging look and he burst into laughter.

"I'm sorry," he chuckled, and she paused, blinking...

Something genuine shone in his face, something new that she had never seen before. He was not being the impressive rebel leader, not the charismatic teenage hero so many children had once took him for.

He was just Jet. Right there, in that moment. He was golden, spotless. Pure, like a child.

A child...

Children scurried about their feet, squealing gleefully.

She sighed and let him lead the way.

------------

She wasn't sure how long they had been walking. Just being beside him again, in these conditions, when virtually the last time they had met, she had been freezing him to a tree... It was beyond awkward. It was almost comical. But he seemed to have this incredible ability to brush things off, and she attempted to mimic it, for the sake of her health.

He had lead her all the way to the back of the city. The great, busy markets had dissolved into empty slums, old, abandoned homes inhabited only by stray weasel-dogs and rat-cats. It was strangely relieving, being out of the press of people. Once or twice along the way she had had to cling to Jet's arm to be sure they weren't separated, for the mass of humanity was so great. She had been eternally grateful when those moments had passed.

"The original Freedom Fighters are all pursuing their own lives now," Jet said as they approached the high back wall of Ba Sing Se. As he spoke, she stared up at the massive wall in awe.

"These kids are orphans or runaways that Kioki and I have sort of... adopted, I guess you could say."  
"Kioki?" She glanced amusingly at his word choice. Adopted...

"Er, my friend," he explained. "She was the one to take me in and help me get a life started when I first came here. Since then, she's ran away from her home and rotates living between her aunt and uncle's house, and with our orphans."

They had approached a cluster of wrecked stone homes, the great rear wall only a hundred or so yards away. A large, open space of dried grass and sand stretched out, perfect for a small gang of homeless kids to reside and play.

"I should warn you," Jet said as they approached the clearing, "these kids can be a little..."  
"Don't worry," she said, waving him off. "I've had my share of rambunctious boys."

He smiled. "I bet you have. Though I'd have to say the worst here is a girl. You'll know why once we... clear a few things up."

Katara hung back at his shoulder while he stepped forward and bird-called softly. His whistle carried on the wind, drafting in and out of the sand, until rattling could be heard from behind the houses.

A great rumble built, like groaning thunder, and then suddenly a blast of earth sent Katara leaping in surprise-- a whoop of delight sounded atop the roar of earth, and from behind a certain slum arose an ascending trail of dust and rock, rocketed from the earth by an ability Katara knew rather well.

She could make out the pink shape of a small boy riding the rocks, who landed firmly but wobbled slightly on the sand about twenty yards from them. He straightened, and then saluted dramatically.

"Tyc here, sir!" His voice was young and bright and Katara giggled as it carried a childish power through the air.

"Where's Kaz and Yurgo?" Jet asked. "And Kioki."  
"Sir! Kioki is visiting her aunt and uncle, sir! Kaz and Yurgo hiding behind right-hand building, _sir_!"

He lifted his knee as if to march, fisting his hands, and sank his heel deep into the earth. Instantly another burst of earth thundered from behind the old slum-- two more figures were hurled over it's roof and thrown hard into the dirt beside the small boy. They grunted hard as they hit the earth, groaning. They each looked about thirteen or fourteen, one pale with long, lanky limbs, and the other so dark her skin almost looked black. She struggled to sitting position, slipping on her elbows once or twice.

"_Teeeeek_," she whined, glaring at the small boy. "How many times have I gotta threaten your life about that?"  
Tyc snickered. "Heeh. Don't ask me."

The girl puckered large lips and turned to face Jet.

"Did you tell him to skyrocket us over that roof an' on'o our butts?" she called indignantly. Katara couldn't help chuckling.

"Technically, yes," Jet replied casually, and made his way towards them, motioning for Katara to follow. The girl's eyes wandered over Jet's shoulder and finally came to rest on Katara. She squinted for a moment at Katara's clothing, and Katara suddenly felt very exposed. She glanced warily at Jet, who did no more than hold of three fingers. She watched him mouth _three, _and lower a finger, then _two, _lower the next, and at last _one,_ at which time, perfectly on cue, the girl--Kaz, Katara guessed was her name-- had seen the pouch slung around her waist and erupted in shock.

"_Oh, _shhhhhh--- Jet!" She leapt to her feet, gawking. "Is she the--is she that one--"

"Yep," Jet said smugly, crossing his arms. "I told you guys you were going to apologize to her."  
"Apologize?" Katara laughed nervously. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, Jet!" Kaz said, throwing up her arms. "You didn't have to-- I mean, this is kinda unexpected!"  
"Sorry, it was just a convenient moment," he said. "I gave her the stuff, you guys just have to take credit for your brilliant thieving schemes, that's all."  
"Wait--" Katara blinked. "_These_ kids stole Sokka's boomerang and my water pouch?"  
"We didn't mean to!" The lanky boy cried, dashing behind Kaz, clutching her shoulders. "We were just... erh..."

"What do you mean, 'we didn't mean to'?" Kaz said incredulously. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"  
"I didn't steel anything," Tyc said respectively from behind. Katara turned to see him hold up his hands innocently.

She smiled.

"All right, Tyc, you're in the clear. The rest of you..."  
She turned to the tussling Kaz and the other boy she assumed was the Yurgo.

"...You two better 'fess up, and quick! Go on."

Katara folded her arms, looking smug, enjoying the game. Jet was watching, truly amused, on the border of full-on laughter. Kaz and Yurgo exchanged defeated looks and then sighed dramatically, and made their way willingly to their knees. Sighing again, then laid their foreheads down in the sand, their arms sprawled out before them, and spoke from the dirt in unison.

"We terribly regret this wrong we have committed and hope we are able to repay you in someway."  
And with that, they rose casually back to their feet.

Katara blinked, grinning in surprise, and turned to Jet.

"What--?"  
"Kioki taught them that," Jet explained, grinning as she was. "It's our method of forgive-and-forget."

"Yeah," Kaz said brightly. "You do forgive us, right?"  
"Well, I guess so," Katara said, chuckling. "Thanks, guys."  
Kaz and Yurgo smiled-- Yurgo bowed comically. "Thank _you_, my lady."

Kaz pushed on his shoulder, attempting to bow lower.

"No, no, thank _you_," she repeated.

"No, thank _you_." Yurgo shoved himself down lower in a sweeping bow.

"No, no, please, thank _you_." Kaz's head brushed the sand.

Jet only shook his head, looking away as Katara laughed.

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**A/N**: Wow, this one was long. It's pretty soft, kinda fluffy for any Jetara fans. But i like it! It's all development, as you know with me.


	22. Chapter 22: Captive

22

**A/N**: Remember, Suki and Azula's stories are not in the Earth Kingdom, so they're a few hours behind everyone else as far as time-of-day goes. So don't get confused! This chapter is super short- I feel like a slacker- I just have to finish Moist Candles ASAP! I'm writing other stuff that I want to get to, so I'm actually motivated to finish this one. It's sequel, Fiery Tears, might be delayed because I want to catch up on some other writing. But not much, I'm hoping-- I still have to write out tons of it... But we don't have to worry about it now because we still have lots to go in Moist Candles! Thanx so much for reading, guys! Reviews are STRONGLY appreciated!!!

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Suki planted herself before the stone, surrendering her mind and body to the rhythm of her art. She could sense it pulsing about her, calming her nerves. No other power, no secret strength besides her own could break the rock. Only her own will, and the will of her Kong Fu, would free them. She bathed in it's grace, it's assurance, it's might. She would become the energy she needed, the force required.

On either side of her, Lisyyun and Yushura readied their own hearts and minds, all three of them seeing nothing but the darkness of their closed eyes, the spinning webs of their thoughts. Together, they all performed the routine steps, moving identically like three separate puppets controlled by a single mind.

Three rows of knuckles struck the rock, and then reeled. Ignoring the rising thunder of rock, and their own physical reactions, their second fists were drawn back, and they delivered a second blow. The cave barricade roared, shaking uncontrollably. The three fell back, clutching their arms between their knees, doubled over to control the vibrating numbness that clutched them.

Suki grit her teeth over the pain. Blood ran from her knuckles onto her undergarments. She looked up at the cave. Visible cracks meshed together to form a focal point of weakness on the wall. She watched, with her companions, in growing shock... The cave trembled not as forcibly as it had in the past; rather, it was the length of time it trembled. It shook for no less than thirty seconds, longer, longer... cracking began, like the sopranos of an orchestral movement. The splintering and scraping of stone rose above the baritone of rumbling, until at last the rock collapsed in an onslaught of dust and debris.

Suki, Lisyyun, and Yushura stumbled back, coughing, shielding themselves from the tumbling gravel. Suki's spirits soared despite it-- she looked up as soon as she could, and through the clearing dust, and saw the shattered chunks of rock littered before them.

The barricade was still intact-- they had not broken to the sunlight, but by the mere force of their will, they had shattered the deepest layer. Before them now stood the weaker side of their trap: it would break in thirty-six hours, if they gave their all to destroy it.

"I-- I can't believe it--" Lisyyun straightened shakily, staring at the destruction in disbelief.

"We did it," Yushura breathed. "We're almost through-- we're almost free."  
"I knew we could do it," Suki said, grinning, and approached the second layer. Lifting a trembling arm, she pushed hard on it's surface.

It nearly bent-- it was weak, frail.

"Will it shatter easily?" Lisyyun asked excitedly.

"It will take the same procedures," Suki replied. "But yes, it will break. Easier, sooner..."

She closed her eyes, and could already feel the sunlight back on her skin.

------------

Azula bent over the rushing sea to study her reflection. Though it was broken and shaken often by the churning waves, she could still make out a slightly clear image of herself. Face fully painted, Kyoshi garb fully attired. She smirked, watching the girl she had defeated ripple in the water before her.

She stepped from the shore, ignoring the water that seeped into her shoes, and turned to look at her companions. Ty Lee was admiring the costume fondly, twirling childishly, watching the skirt expand and flow about her ankles.

"I like this plan, Azula," she remarked vaguely, smiling down at the dress.

"That is a huge relief," Mai groaned, tugging at her own robe.

"Urgh-- this is so tight. I can hardly breathe."

"Don't worry," Azula droned. "If we're lucky, the Earth Kingdom will be ours in a matter of days."  
"Or I could suffocate before then..." Mai sighed dreamily.

Azula rolled her eyes, picking up the paint supplies and securing them on her person.

"We'll have to move through the night if we're to reach the Earth Kingdom by the end of this week," she said firmly. "So I suggest you--"

There was a sudden rumble through the earth, distant, but distinguishable. As if a landslide had occurred. A small one, but that didn't matter. Azula's ears pricked, her eyes narrowing.

"What was that?" Ty Lee commented blankly, rising to stare about her.

"Shhh..." Azula's eyes swept their area, the distant forest fading into mountains, the humming sea...

"Sounded like an explosion," Mai said after a moment. "A pretty floozy one, though."

"There's no smoke," Azula observed carefully, and her nostrils flared as she sifted the scents in the air, studying them one by one.

At long last her head lowered in suspicion, but her gaze remained bold on the mountain valley before them.

"Let's go check on things with our little fangirl friends, shall we?"

Mai and Ty Lee glanced at her with ranging expressions of curiosity, as their princess and friend frowned and set off past them into the forest from whence they had come.

"Come on, girls," she snapped, and the other two fell into quick pace behind her.

They hiked for a few minutes, rounding on five, all the time Azula silent and alert like a dragon on the hunt. They passed through familiar trees, over familiar paths, until at last they reached the barricaded cave.

Mai and Ty Lee studied it, as they realized it was what Azula had been targeting.

But it was as she had left it-- the fallen rocks were securely in place, blocking the entrance as perfectly as before.

Mai and Ty Lee's shoulders loosened, waiting for Azula to shrug and turn, but she did not.

Azula glared at the cave, at every single rock that formed a thick wall of stone.

The seconds passed...

"Hm."

She turned around, her expression somewhat softer, and brushed past her companions again.

"It's getting late. We depart now."

"Now?" Ty Lee looked up at the sky. "But dark is coming."

"Yeah, Azula, shouldn't we rest for the night?" Mai sounded strangely desirous on sleeping. "It would help us in the morning."  
Azula glanced at them, and the coldness behind her irises made them both shiver instinctively.

Her lips pursed, and they dreaded she would shout at them, but then she blinked, and when her lashes lifted her eyes were softened again.

"Very well. But only a few hours. The stars are our method of direction, may I remind you."

She turned, so they wouldn't see her face.

"And perhaps we are needed another night to... baby-sit a few naughty children."

Her mind skipped to the barricaded cave, the brief chorus of rumbling...

Mai and Ty Lee had not heard her. But that they did was not necessary.

-------------

Long Feng's shadow was swift and full, and he was able to glide unnoticed through the streets. Dawn was barely peering out over the crest of the city-- a soft violet-rouge glow rimmed the otherwise dark sky. He felt this time of day his favorite: the streets were empty, all still sleeping, all lanterns still lit. The city was his, his to prowl and observe without the notice of others.

He ran his thumb over the small object in his hand-- it's surface was smooth, and reverberated a sense of mischief that he had so loved every since his younger years. He moved towards the edge of the city as casually as if he didn't know it. But he did.

He was expecting a visitor.

Stray rat-cats were the only disturbances on the streets besides his gliding strides... They scampered warily across the dirt, the stone, dodging tarps dripping rain water from a couple days before. He looked into their bright, violet eyes... and they jumped into the shadows, spooked and bristled.

He kept moving, hands folded neatly behind his back, still fingering the object he had brought along. The walls of the city seemed to hum to him-- a promise of victory loomed in the maturing air. Soon morning would break, but by then, he would have been far off, having claimed his prize.

He remembered the Avatar, the stinging glare in those childish eyes. He chuckled, wondering how a boy of twelve thought he could threaten and challenge perhaps the most powerful man of the kingdom. It had been an amusing thing, their last meeting. They had snuck under disguise into the Earth King's party in hopes they would outsmart the Dai Li guards and win a secret counsel with the King. Long Feng found himself chuckling, hoping for more. It was such fun.

He turned a corner, and the meeting place spanned out before him. A square clearing surrounded by packed-away markets, waiting to be occupied by scampering children once the afternoon hours set it. He leaned against the corner of it's stone wall outline, and raised the instrument in his fingers naturally to his lips.

The note he blew was washed and too high for him to make out a clear pitch, but it's vibrations carried through the walls of the city like a tidal wave of message. He felt it prick the air, and blew again, and again. Three sounds should do it. He smirked to himself and lowered the instrument into his robe pocket.

All he had to do now was wait.

At first, there was no response. Apparently his visitor was late, but that didn't bother him. He peered into his pocket, propping it open with his thumb, and studied the instrument. It fit perfectly inside his robe, the carved shape of a sky bison, painted accordingly as well.

A shadow passed over the stone before him, and he bristled as the rat-cats had, staring straight ahead from the shadows. The large shadow bathed the stone again, passing back and forth like a giant circling dragon, and then his visitor lowered itself into the stone clearing.

Long Feng's smirk was as distant and as cold as the glimmering stars above, and he stepped from the shadows. His visitor's eyes widened, and a low rumble escaped his throat in surprise, but Long Feng was quicker.

Raising his hands, he quickly earthbent the stone beneath his visitor's feet, prying it from the ground, and bringing his arms over his head in a swift motion.

The slab of ground spun, and the sky bison named Appa roared as he tumbled into the darkness of the chamber below.

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**A/N**: Easy chapter, shortie! And yay, Appa is with us now! We'll have some cool stuff coming up with him, so stay tuned!


	23. Chapter 23: Harmony

23

A/N: We are now nearing familiar points in the actual Earth episodes-- Lake Laogai, in this case. yay! We're almost on a rap so we can start Fiery Tears- note, the title may change... but yay!! Zutara is coming!! Thanks a ton for reading guys, you make it all worthwhile-- Reviews are cookies!!!!!

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Zuko stumbled into the clearing and collapsed onto the damp stone.

All around him, the world swam. It rippled and blurred, as if submerged in water, like he was below the surface of a lake, watching the world shimmer above him through the waves. He could feel the blood from his arm drying, crusting, caking his clothing to his flesh. He snarled at the wound-- it wasn't that serious, yet for hours on end in the night, into the dawn, he had become lost in the city, delusional... The loss of blood was playing it's power at his mind-- he struggled to stay present in his surroundings.

Water. Churning waves. They echoed through the chambers of his mind, a great sea folding out before him. He was in the midst of it, atop the water, yet he did not sink. He watched the water lap through him, as if he were no more solid than the salty air. While it passed through him as easily as the wind, he hovered there on some coordinate of the horizon, yet not there at all.

Something emerged from the burning sunset, a twisting, writhing shape-- it elongated, gangly, pointed arms sprouting from it's chest. A great, headless neck was turned to stare at Zuko, pressed against the sun as if it thrived within it's core. A great, white face shone from the top of it's great body-- smiling ruby lips, half-closed, vacant eyes...

"You're still deciding, then," the face said, and it's voice was colder to Zuko than the water he had plunged into so many weeks ago at the North Pole...

"No matter," the face said again, it's great instectial body curving like a curious serpent. "Here, there are no limits to a man's time. Here, one can be truly free..."

It craned it's body forward, studying Zuko over, a horrific chuckle vibrating from his chest.

"Tell me, great bender... What is it you fear? Show me your fear, let it beflame your eyes in perfect emotion... Emotion, yes, such a tasty, such a wonderful thing...!"

The body lashed forward, just like a cobra in attack, but before Zuko's heart could react, a great white light shattered it's image. Shattered the sea, the sun, engulfing everything Zuko could see... until at last it began to fade, the edges of his vision slowly becoming dimmer and dimmer until through the great light he could see the same sea again, the same orange sun...

The white light came to focus in the center of his vision, and from there...

A girl grew. She faded into focus, the floating light positioned exactly where her heart would be. She remained there, suspended in the air before him, translucent. The sun and sea shifted behind her, still present... The great insect-man stayed as a writhing sillouhette, much farther away against the sun than Zuko remembered.

"I shame you, Koh," the woman said softly, sadness dripping from every word she spoke. "I thought you knew better."

Bending down, she peered comfortingly into Zuko's eye. Zuko stared in amazement, into a face more beautiful than anything he had ever seen... Her pure white hair flowed about her like tendrils of snow; her indescribably soft turquoise eyes held all the sadness of the world, yet it was well mended by her kind, genuine smile. She extended a hand, her great, flowing robes wafting about her like silver smoke. He stared at her hand for a moment, vaguely aware that he was lying on his chest, and stretched up his gloved fingers to take hers.

She blinked, and her eyes were refurbished with the true happiness of her smile; their assurance and kindness was warmer than anything he had ever seen. He wished to drown in it, to know it, to keep it for himself.

"Zuko," she said, and his heart sang at the way she had spoken his name.

"Time is short," she said, her smile fading slightly. "I am Yue, Spirit of the Moon, Sister of Water. Tell me, why have you come?"  
He blinked, incomprehensive, and merely shook his head.

"I..."

Her eyelids lowered slightly, as if undecided about whether to close completely, and she pulled him closer. He was floating below her as she floated above him now, and he seemed to pass through the air as if he sat atop a cloud. She drew him into her, so close that he could feel the warmth of her illusional breath on his cheek. Her eyes drooped lower, and he was unaware when she placed a fragile hand atop the wound in his tricep. He glanced down past her lips to his arm, and watched a glowing glove of ice encircle her fingers, just as the white fire had done to his. The shining ice spread around his wound, embracing it, until a moment passed and it was able to draw back. The flesh was left as if it had never been touched, just as Song's...

He blinked, and watched her hand raise and come to rest on his shoulder.

"You have come because you are ready to know the truth," she said softly, yet firmly, her eyes large and flawless before him, as soft and smooth as the light of the moon...

"But now something comes," she whispered, so close now that he thought he would drown in her for sure.

As if cued, a soft ring echoed over the sea. It grew in volume, like an echo channeled through the water. The note was high and lovely, curious, and as it began to ripple and waver, another note joined it, rising from the sun, that struck harmony with the first. Zuko listened intently, fascinated yet confused, and glanced before him to see Yue's eyes drop as she too listened.

When it had subsided, she turned back to him.

"The Earth calls for you... can you hear it?"  
He nodded absently, trapped in her gaze.

"You must answer it," she whispered. "Now, before anything else."  
"I--" He didn't want to leave her, her calming atmosphere he so direly yearned for.

She ran a tender hand over his cheek, her fingertips caressing the rim of his scar.

"You have carried this burden as bravely as anyone could," she said, smiling. "Soon you will be free. Here, one can be truly free." She echoed the words of Koh, drawing their truth.  
"Here?" he reached for her, but she was already fading away.

"Yue--"

"Look!" she said suddenly, pointing behind him. He half reluctantly turned to see...

A great red dragon. It curved and twirled over the water, it's tale aflame, seeking something...

It's small, peircing eyes fell upon Zuko's and--

"Zuko! _Zuko_, thank _goodness_--!"

The sea, the dragon, Yue-- everything vanished.

There was only the stone before him, against his cheek, the light of sunrise...

No, not sunrise...

A shape formed before his eyes-- Iroh ran towards his fallen body, a flame alight in the palm of his hand. He collapsed onto his knees before his nephew, the fire extinguishing instantly, throwing them back into the dim light of coming dawn.

"Zuko... what happened? Are you all right? You didn't return-- I was so worried-- here, I'll help you up--"  
He was vaguely aware of Iroh's arm under his arms, his own around Iroh's neck... He blinked, trying to dispel the onslaught of the real world, all it's scents, it's sounds...

"Uncle...?"

"I'm here, Zuko."

"Uncle-- the spirits... They..."

He touched his scar. Yue's touch lingered as a spark of warmth, before it vanished completely, just has she had.

Iroh gaped.

"Did you... Did the Spirits take you?"

Zuko struggled to recall...

"A horizon... Sun, ocean... The Moon Spirit... she..."

Iroh nodded.

"The threshold of the Spirit World. You must not have been ready to enter... Zuko, I think--"

"Yue!" Zuko cried suddenly. "It was Yue... She..."

His vision swam again-- with the last of it, he glanced down at his arm...

"She..."

Yue's face was blurry before his... his heart jolted, longing to see it again...

But when it focused, the features were not hers.

The waterbender girl, the other end of his Clash, looked up at him sadly, kindly, just as Yue had. Her lips formed a small smile, her brow upturned, and color rose in her cheeks that was not just the light of sunrise cresting the city...

Zuko blinked, and again he was staring at his wound.

"She healed me..." But all reference to Yue had been lost, all wonder had been sucked away... All that remained now was the face of the waterbender, her large eyes bold yet reserved with a sort of shyness, a hidden, almost humorous affection...

"Come, Zuko, we'll go home. Where's your mask...? Ah, here it is... and your swords..."

Zuko hardly felt him bend to recover the fallen items--

--hardly aware of the cry of anguish that wracked the air only heartbeats later.

-------------

Tyc drew circles in the sand with his fingers, reading his motions in his earthbending mind, following where his finger had landed so he was able to create a portrait in the dirt...

When he finished, the patterns he had carved translated out in his mind as what he had intended: a sky bison. He grinned to himself, staring blind eyes gleefully forward, and moved to add a large arrow to the bison's forehead. He had seen it in a dream the night before, a great fluffy bison with soft, friendly eyes... He giggled slightly to himself as he remembered the bison's great tongue slap across his entire body in a giant kiss. He recalled the softness of the bison's fur, how he had jumped onto it's back and hugged it so tightly it seemed nothing would separate them. He instantly had forged a love for the creature, had even named him. Gapiba seemed perfect-- it was playful, yet it's meaning was that of survival, of trust. He knew Gapiba had struggled, and in his dream, he had finally found refuge in Tyc's embrace.

Tyc stood, suddenly alarmed by something. He had not gone to sleep that night-- the dream had awoken him and afterwards all sleepiness had escaped him, and so he had sat under the stars, awaiting sunrise, listening to the birds proclaim it's arrival.

Now, sunrise had not yet hit, but it was coming. Under the stars, their peaceful realm, the disturbance felt like a growl of rising conflict. It shuddered the earth beneath Tyc's feet, every small grain of sand seemed to scream in defiance to this new power. Tyc's frown intensified-- pain shot through the soles of his feet as if the sand had turned to tiny shards of glass.

A roar. A roar of surprise, of anger, of defiance-- it rattled the earth like no vibration Tyc had ever felt. Even in the air, it was like he heard it-- he winced, listening to that much distress, that much hope lost...

His dream opened up before him and Gapiba's great mouth opened and roared the same terrified roar he had heard only moments before. Tyc shook his head, fighting to make it not true-- not Gapiba, no!---

"NOOO!" He screamed, driven in agony for the beast he loved, his anguish for his new friend's anguish--

--and he channeled it into his feet, his arms, which fell in a forceful collapse to slam the earth like he had never struck it before.

The earth rumbled, threatening to shatter. Tyc read it like a book, tracing the beast's roars to his location...

Tyc threw his fists into the ground again-- from his movements, a great _ring_ ensued from his fists, the peculiar detail to his abilities that he had known his whole life... The haunting note of anguish rippled through the earth, running along it's surface like a tidal wave... another note joined it, sinking into the first in harmony...

And the ground broke, not near him, but miles away-- It cracked and splintered, rock severed from rock, tearing open like a wound to the earth.

It's roar echoed through the city, and when Tyc heard it, he leapt to his feet, running with all his strength into the city, towards it.

"Tyc! Are you okay?! What was--!"  
Kaz's yells were cut short-- she, Yurgo, and Jet leapt from behind the surrounding buildings, awakened and terrified.

They only saw the boy's fading figure submerge into the sleeping city.

"Tyc!" Jet stared, perplexed, and then reached to grab his swords from the sand.

"Come on! You two follow him, I'll go get Kioki!"

They set off, the dawn breaking over their heads like a bleeding wound.

---------------

Zuko heard the cry of anguish, and so did Iroh... they stood bewildered, shaken, listening as it echoed until it faded.

"What was that?" Zuko ran a hand through his hair, now fully awakened from his vision, and able to stand without Iroh's support.

"I... don't know."

Iroh's eyes lowered, until they were followed by his head, and he studied the ground beneath his feet.

"I can feel... something," he whispered. "Zuko--"  
"I feel it too." Zuko stared down at the stone, and glanced at his uncle. Iroh only shrugged.

"Come on, Zuko, we should go... Something doesn't feel right--"

"Uncle!"

Zuko was staring, horrified, at the stone between Iroh's feet. Iroh glanced down quickly... to see it cracking. The stone was splintering, as if drilled from something beneath it's surface.

"Zuko!" Iroh pointed likewise to his nephew, who jumped away just as a shattered chunk of stone fell out from under him.

"What the--?" They had nowhere to go, watching the stone ground crack and crumble around them.

"Run!" Iroh called over the rising splintering, but the destruction was faster-- they had not set off a few paces before the earth finally broke, torn open as if by a strike of lightning.

Zuko fell first.

"ZUKO!" Iroh watched him fall, heard his cry as he was enveloped in cascading rocks. Horror clutched at his heart, but he had no time to react-- The loss of Zuko clashed with his body's instincts of flight and in that moment he was still, he fell too, taken up in the shattering earth. The deafening sound of crumbling stone pounded about him-- he was encircled in a hailstorm of dust and debris. Rocks slammed against his chest, threatening to snap him in two-- darkness closed up the world above like an envelope's seal--

And he hit solid ground, listening to rocks fall about him, choking on dust, feeling the pain of his own injuries sting his conscious mind at last...

Darkness won over. The last thing his senses gripped was the fading image of Zuko's face, closed as if blissfully asleep...

------------

_Don't... Don't touch him..._

_I can't-- oh, for heaven's _sake_, Moon--_

_He'll be allright, Koh. _

_He'd better be!_

"Yue...?"  
Zuko's eyes were pressed shut but he saw her, saw her glorious light...

"Open your eyes," she whispered.

But it was not her voice, yet it seemed just as mesmerizing, just as warm...

He forced his muscles to respond, while lying broken amidst the fallen stone...

"Uncle..."

"He will be all right. Look at me..." Her voice was so soft, so kind... He wished nothing more than to do exactly what she told him, but it took a moment to rally his body to full response...

At last his lashes were pried apart, and the light that flooded them was nothing but welcoming... He could feel the coolness of the sea on him again...

He saw her flowing white hair, her soft robes wafting about her, but it was not her face, just like before... instead of her light honey skin, he saw the rich copper of someone else's... Bright, deep blue eyes shone through the light like two sapphires on a blanket of snow... A delicate smile shaped her lips, and the same blush rose on her face as tenderly as he had seen before...

She giggled softly.

"I know you've changed," she whispered.

Suddenly it struck him-- a word sparked in his mind as if it had been inserted there by some angelic hand.

"Katara," he whispered, staring up into those magnificent eyes...

"Katara..."

But contempt boiled somewhere in his stomach, and her smile became a frown.

"You..." He felt a glare climbing at his features... "What have... you done... to me..."

The reference to the Clash banished her face in a blink of confusion--

He blinked too, and saw the sky.

But saw it twenty or so feet lower than he normally would.

He realized he was staring through a gaping hole in the ground: he was beneath it, staring up through a shattered ceiling of stone.

He remembered now-- the earthquake, or whatever had happened... Iroh's cries...

Iroh! Uncle!

He rolled painfully onto his side, crushing debris beneath his arms as he did. An instant sting shot up his back-- if it wasn't broken, it was bruised to the Spirit World and back, and he grit his teeth to resist a shout.

Iroh's crumbled body lay still beneath his own blanket of stone and dust-- Zuko propped himself on his elbows, pulling himself through the dust, over rocks, and finally came close enough to rest a hand on his uncle's shoulder.

"Uncle... Uncle?"  
He groaned, forcing himself to his knees. His back screamed in protest, but he bit through it, finally steady before his uncle's chest.

"Uncle... wake up. Uncle Iroh!"

There was a muffled throaty growl, and then a great, thick snort.

It was definitely not Iroh.

Zuko's head rose slowly, not quite believing what he had heard, and not ready to see it before him.

The Avatar's bison glared menacingly into his eyes, only sprints away, chained to the ground by each of his six enormous legs.

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**A/N**: Yay! NOW we're getting somewhere! (And i couldn't help myself-- small seconds of Yue x Zuko was just too available, I- I- had to make something there. Sorry, Zutarans!!) Thanks for reading, please please please review!!!


	24. Chapter 24: Resemblance

24

**A/N**: This is a long one, and it's packed, but it's super cool too!! Moist Candles is almost done! Wow, what an abrupt ending that's coming! Sorry there will have to be major cliffies. hehehe... . Moving on. Hope you guys like this one, i do!! Sorry if it feels... rushed or at a lack of info... i was writing this between watching Naruto episodes on YouTube so... hehehe kinda distracted. Kakashi rulz!, and Reviews are cookies! Thanx guys!!

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Katara awoke with a start.

"Sokka. Sokka!"

Her voice was a snapping hiss in the dark room. Half whisper, half shout. Sokka didn't stir.

"_Sokka_! Wake up!"

Across the small room, Sokka groaned. Toph, Aang, and MoMo slept on.

"Ehhhuuuh?"  
"Did you hear that?" Katara whispered frantically, jumping to her window.

"Uhhunnnuhh?"  
"_Sokka_, pay attention! Listen!"

There was silence.

"Sokka?"  
"Mmmmeugh?"

"Are you listening?"  
"Eeoouuhhhn."

Katara literally pressed her ear to the glass-- she had not dreamed it, it was real... She had heard the most distinctive bang, as if someone had dropped the giant Fire Nation drill from the sky onto the city. The force of it still seemed to rattle in her head...

"Didn't you hear it, Sokka? It was a loud bang, like a thunderstorm!"  
"Uuunnngh."

"Quick, wake up Aang, we have to go see what happened! Whatever it was, it wasn't good."

"Meeehhhhhggh!"

"Now! Move!"

"Neeeeeeuuughh!" A long, thin lump tumbled from his bed to land painfully on the floor.

"Ouch."

"Hurry up, Sokka! Toph!"  
Her voice was quiet but harsh-- she crossed the room, pulling on her tunic as she did.

"Toph, wake up!" She was much gentler with Toph, because she knew what grouchy earthbenders did when they were awoken when they didn't want to be. Katara wasn't in the mood to kiss the far wall just yet.

She shook her slightly, but her movements were stiff with energy. In the next corner, Sokka was dragging himself over the carpet like a maimed warrior towards the source of Aang's snoring.

"You get dressed," she snapped at him, running past. "I'll get Aang."  
As she shook the boy awake, she glanced one last time to the window--

Where Jet stood, peering into the room, motioning urgently for her to come.

Katara barely avoided tripping over Sokka, who yelped in shock as she leapt over him-- she rushed to the window, threw it open, and found herself nose to nose with Jet.

"Woah," he said, managing a smile and a lifted eyebrow. "That didn't take long."  
"Why are you here?" There was an edge to her otherwise rational tone-- it seemed she was still battling between the awful lies he had practiced on her months ago, and the new light of him she had received the day before. He realized this, and frowned, but did not elaborate that angle of their circumstance.

"Katara, something's up--"

"Is it that loud bang?"  
He blinked. "Yeah. You heard it?"  
"Heard it?" she repeated. "It nearly knocked me out of bed! What happened?"  
"I don't know, but Tyc's run off, I think he had something to do with it." Jet ran a nervous hand over the back of his neck.

"I need your help."  
"Katara, who are you talking to?"

Toph sat up in a daze, brow upturned in sleepiness.

"Er--"

But Katara wasn't going to be able to respond anyway.

"KATARA! LOOK OUT, IT'S _JET_!"

Sokka hurled his previously half-dead body towards the window, and Katara, nose wrinkled in disgust, jumped away just in time. He flung his torso out into the night, but Jet had dodged too, leaving Sokka to dangle there on the sill.

"Ahhh! Ow, my gut! Help me up! Katara, quick, don't make eye contact-- he's armed, look-- watch out, he's reaching towards me-- Katara, _help_!"  
Jet seized Sokka by the scruff of the neck and thrust him back into the room. He landed with a thud on his backside.

"Ow!"

"Watch your step," Jet said calmly.

"And stop fidgeting, Sokka," Katara said. "Jet's... he's here to help us."  
"What?!" Sokka sprung to his knees, flabbergasted. "WHAT?"  
"What is it?" Aang appeared--

He met Jet's eyes and reeled, gasping.

"Katara, what's he doing here?"  
There was no anger in his voice... not yet, at least. Only surprise... and maybe fear?

"He heard the bang too," Katara said. "We've got to go check it out, his friend might have something to do with it!"  
"What bang?" Aang asked, while Sokka seemed to grovel in incredulity at Katara's feet.

But before Katara could answer, Aang said,

"And I assume there's been a... previous reunion between you and Jet, that Sokka and I have missed, that on account of which, you're not kicking his butt right now, yes?"  
"Yes," Katara said, and she almost smiled. "And the bang--"

"We won't need to explain when you see the mess it's made," Jet said solemnly.

"You've seen it?" Katara turned to him, desperate.

"Not yet," Jet said, "but hearing it was enough, would you agree? Now come on, whoever can, this isn't just an accident. Tyc never gets upset like this."  
"Tyc?" Aang blinked, his face brightening. "You mean, the blind earthbender? Toph and I met him a couple days ago!"

"Really," Jet said. "That's right, he told me he'd met you."  
"This is really touching and all, but we need to go now!" Katara began climbing out of the window, aided by the ex-Freedom Fighter. Sokka looked up in horror, as if he was a spoiled child being separated from his mother.

"_C'mon_, Sokka! Aang, Toph, let's go!"  
They really didn't have a choice.

------------  
"Just one quick stop--"

Jet pulled off suddenly at a corner, but before the others could follow him, he held up a sword, otherwise he would have held up a hand.

"Wait here," he said, and ran towards a small house on the end of the street.

Jet skidded before Kioki's bedroom window, or at least, the guest bedroom in her aunt and uncle's where she slept. Peering inside, he saw her bed empty.

Thinking fast, he ran around the house's side, not knowing why he would expect her to be there--

He was right. Hikuro was stooped down over a large flower bed, the sight almost comical as his gigantic hands worked the small, fragile flower pots. Kioki knelt beside him, and when Jet turned the corner she jumped in surprise.

"Jet?"

"Kioki-- come, we need you."  
Kioki nodded, without hesitation, and left Hikuro there on the pathway.

"Er-- do you need me?" the massive man called.

"No, sir," Jet responded, and he set off, Kioki at his heels.

He glanced at her warily was they ran.

"Do you feel okay?"  
She blinked. "Yes, why?"

"Well..." But he didn't need to voice it. The last time they had met, she had mysteriously been at a lack of breath, and had passed out moments later...

"I'm fine," she said, waving it off. "What's going on?"

"Tyc," was all Jet said before they reached the others. Kioki froze, staring at Katara for what seemed to be a decade, but it ended in the blink of an eye and any sense of tension evaporated.

"And Kioki," Jet said, turning, "why were you and Hikuro gardening at one in the morning?"  
She shrugged. "Best time to set this certain kind of blossom. I won't go into detail because I take it you're not a botanist?"  
"No," Jet smirked and turned back to the others.

"Okay... Yurgo and Kaz have followed Tyc... they all went down the main street. Let's go!"  
And they set off again into the slowly awakening city.

-------------

Zuko stared into it's gigantic, looming glare, the blood pounding like thunder in his veins, and felt himself tremble. Not in fear, not in anger...

...in excitement.

He could hardly believe his luck-- all the doubt and discouragement that had flooded into him over the first weeks of living in Ba Sing Se seemed to wash away, as if the great sea in his visions had flooded it out. Something had finally gone right in his life-- At last, destiny was on his side.

"Well, look at this," he whispered, and rose shakily to his feet, but any pain from any injuries had been snuffed from his mind as if they had never existed. He made his way to stand before the great bison, ignoring it's snarls and growls. Zuko took a step forward, not realizing he fingered his Blue Spirit mask in his hands, and the bison stomped against his chains, roaring in defiance. Zuko only stared at it, hardly believing his luck.

"You're mine," he whispered, staring straight into it's eyes. "I can hardly believe it would turn out this easy."

To calm his shaking hands, he tied the mask over his eyes, staring with his new draconic face into the bison's-- the bison trembled, growling even harder, and then--

A hand grasped Zuko's shoulder. He jumped, spinning about, almost knocking Iroh off balance.

"Uncle!"

"Zuko--" Iroh coughed, clutching his arm, looking up at the bison.

"What is..."  
"It's a cell," Zuko said, waving his hand about. "Can't you see? They've kept the Avatar's bison here."  
"The... Avatar?" Iroh stared up at the bison in awe, apparently fearless of it's deadly glare.

The bison roared again, stomping, but neither of the two men flinched.

"We should get out of here," Iroh muttered through clenched teeth, trying to knock out the pain in his arm. "Now, quickly."  
Zuko didn't move.

"I can't, Uncle. I have to do this."  
Iroh blinked.

"Do what? Zuko, we have to leave! If they find us here..."  
"Uncle, don't you know what this means?" Zuko whirled at him, as if stunned he had not snagged immediately onto his plan.

"We have the Avatar's bison! Doesn't that mean anything to you? Think of what leverage this is!"

Iroh stared at him, thunderstruck.

"Zuko..."

"Uncle," Zuko turned away, staring up at the bison. "This could mean my honor restored... my throne returned..."

"Zuko, _stop_!"

Iroh suddenly burst, nearly falling to his knees.

"I'm begging you! Just stop!"  
Zuko spun around.

"What? What did you say?"

There was a fire behind his eyes-- he knew what was coming.

"Zuko, look at yourself, at your situation!" Iroh bellowed, desperate. His blood was boiling not in anger but in fear-- fear that everything Zuko had learned would now be shattered.

"Does this look like a plan to you? Does it?"  
Zuko stared, appalled.

"What are you talking about? You're telling me to just _leave it here_?"

"Yes!" Iroh clutched his arm, biting back the searing pain.

"I'm doing this, Uncle," Zuko snapped, turning back to the bison. "I have to get it out of here, and then..."  
"Then _what_?" Iroh roared. "I go put on some tea for him, back at our apartment? We don't even know why it's here!"  
"Does it matter?" Zuko shot back, his voice shaking. "Does _anything_ matter anymore besides getting my honor back?"

"Zuko, I won't stand by and let you be lead astray by some destiny someone has tried to force on you. Think of what you have to do! What you _want_ to do! Do you _want_ to do this? _Theft_?"  
"I know my own destiny, Uncle!" Zuko snapped. "I have to do this! It's the only way."

"Way to what?" Iroh felt despair threatening to choke him-- he forced it down with discipline, patience.

"This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole," he said, reddening. "You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!"  
Zuko's haw twitched. "I would have figured something out! Stop assuming I'm always acting on impulse! I use strategies, Uncle, I'm not a fool!"

"No!" Iroh shot back. "No, you had no strategy! If his friends hadn't found you out there in the snow, you would have frozen to death! And for what? Nothing!"

"Nothing?" Zuko whirled at him again. "How dare you! What do you know?"  
"I know enough," Iroh said. "I know I love you, and I want only what is the best for you."  
Zuko growled, turning away.

"I'm--"  
"You're more than this, Zuko," Iroh said. His voice was low but it stung the air like a winter's breeze.

"You're so much more! You have a whole life ahead of you, open for you to make your own decisions! You can choose your destiny, it's all up to you, why can't you see that!"  
"And I've decided!" Zuko yelled. "I've decided what I want! I want my honor, my throne, my country! I don't want what you want, I don't want _any_ of this! I hate it!"  
"No, you don't. You _don't_, Zuko! You wish so much to just be free, to be able to follow your heart! Deny it no longer! Who _are_ you? What do _you_ want?"

Zuko let out a cry, a cry of anger, despair, irritation, yielding... He tore the mask from his face, throwing it to the earth before the bison's nose. He wanted nothing more than to watched the world shrink and dissolve around him. He wanted to be away from it, away from all the destinies and expectations that lurked at every corner.

_You know what you have to do, bender, _an indescribably cold voice whispered in his mind. _You have more might than is at your hands._

------------

"Tyc! TYC! _Great Earth King_, I'm gonna _kill_ that kid!"

Kaz snagged Yurgo's wrist, pulling around another corner.

"You're just leading us off track!" Yurgo wrenched himself free. "Tyc hardly turned at all, he was heading completely straight the whole time."  
"I was in the lead, and I saw him make a couple turns!" She jabbed a finger into her chest to accentuate. He huffed a grunt, too exhausted to argue.

Sighing in exasperation, she glanced around.

"_Teeeeeek_!"

"He's not going to answer!" Yurgo hissed. "We've already tried that a thousand times; if he didn't answer to Jet, he's not answering to you."

"All right, then, fine!" she snapped. "What do _you_ suggest?"  
"I suggest..."

Yurgo looked around as she had, and she raised an eyebrow. He glanced about again, massaging his chin thoughtfully.

"Any day now, uber tracker," she droned.

"Look!"

She turned about, guided by his outstretched finger...

And they saw a cloud of dust, faint, yet discernible, rising up over the building tops.

"That's gotta be him!" Kaz exclaimed, and she seized Yurgo's sleeve, jerking him into a run.

-------------

Jet and Kioki lead the others, following the main street as far as it would take them before...

"Wait! Look!"

Katara had skidded to a dramatic halt, horrified, pointing into a courtyard just to their right. Jet and Kioki retraced several steps, peering in with the others.

A great, gaping hole loomed where solid stone ground once had been Dust and debris littered it's edges-- it had not torn peacefully.

"That has Tyc written all over it," Kioki said sarcastically. "Such the temperamental one, he is."  
"Something was wrong," Jet defended. "Seriously wrong. He could have easily done this just out of anger."

"It _was_ him," Toph said suddenly. They all glanced at her, standing stoic as ever.

"It has his annoying ring plastered all over it."  
Jet nodded.

"C'mon, let's check it out."

Carefully they approached it, Jet pressing his hooked swords down into the stone to make sure it was stable before allowing them to walk upon it. They circled the great gap, about a foot or so away from it's edge, not daring to get any closer.

"Can you hear that?" Aang said, and they all pricked their ears. The vibrations of sound bounced their way up to the air-- voices, stressed and raised.

"There's people down there," Toph said. "And..."  
Her voice seemed to demand silence, her expressions calm yet intrigued by something only she could see...

"Aang! It's Appa! Appa's down there!"  
"What?! APPA! I'm coming, buddy!"

------------

"Go," Zuko whispered at the bison. It's chains lay broken and scattered across the dungeon floor. For a moment, it only stared at Zuko, as if surprised he were there.

"Go!" Zuko spat, and fire leapt from his arms thrust in frustration. The flames licked at the beast's flesh-- it reared, roaring in fright, and by instinct, took off into the air.

It was confused, and slammed against the still-in-tact stone ceiling of the cell. Debris crumbled at it's force, showering Zuko and Iroh, who were forced to clamor to the other end of the cell for refuge. The bison growled again, confused, and clumsily found his way to the surface--

------------

"APPA!"

The great bison soared from the wrecked hole, a comet of legs and fur, roaring a victory that rattled the city like the destruction had. Circling, he dipped back down, bringing a mighty breeze at his tail, bathed in the new pink glow of the sunrise.

"APPA!" Tears sprang to Aang's eyes, down his face-- he was unconscious of them, all he knew was that he was hurtling towards his long, lost friend, was going to embrace him like nothing could tear them apart, was never going to let him out of his sight again...

The bison landed, and Aang was there. The great strands of fur brushed warm over his face; he clenched his eyes shut, still unaware of his soaked cheeks.

"I missed you, buddy, oh, Appa, I missed you..."

For that one moment, however short it lasted, he was asleep in Appa's warmth once again.

-------------

Zuko and Iroh watched, listened...

Silence was there to take the place of the bison's pounds, his snarls... From above, voices would be heard, echoing feebly at first but then gaining momentum against the hard, metal walls of the cell. Zuko felt his arms tense in Iroh's grasp. He pulled away, running a gloved hand shakily through his hair.

"You did the right thing," Iroh whispered, approaching his back. "I promise, nephew."

Metal walls...

The stone beneath their feet was not metal, not at all, and in an instant, the earth hiccuped: a great column of solid rock sprouted from it's depths like a knife into the interior of a wound-- The column slammed into Zuko's chest, throwing him back against Iroh. The two of them collided with the far wall, crumpling together in a heap, groaning.

"What was--"  
They struggled to their knees, clutching their guts, but then another slab of earth shot from the ground: a miniature wall, and it slammed into the two men again, forcing them back hard against the wall, held hostage underneath it's force.

It's top edge held their chins high, and the more they struggled to be free of it, the more pressure was exerted against them, until it seemed it would crush their ribs.

The ground rumbled again, but this time, it was the walls that opened. In the opposite corner of Zuko and Iroh, the metal burst, as easily and deliberately as if rent by godlike fingers.

From the hole that it exposed stepped a small, silent figure.

Tyc raised his fists, and the slab of earth holding the two men slackened for a moment.

"I'm going to ask nicely," he said, and though he was incredibly young, his voice carried with an honest threat.

"Where is the sky bison?"

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**A/N**: Well, there's that! I hope you guys aren't too disappointed by the similar lines/situations used in this chapter and in the actual chapter 'Lake Laogai'. My fanfic is more like that: it's a different way of presenting the last episodes of earth, and then of course when we enter Book 3 Fire, it'll be totally new stuff, i promise! Thanx for enduring this, i hope you guys like it! Pleeeeeaaz review!!! You have tons to look forward too!


	25. Chapter 25: In Him

25

**A/N**: Nearing the end of Moist Candles!! Can't wait to get started on the sequel-- Hope you guys like this one! (The chapters are getting longer...) Thanks so much for reading!

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Jet smiled, observing the reunion with Appa with a touched heart. He suddenly realized how much love those kids had, how innocently they had trusted him, befriended him. And how hard he had taken that trust and love for granted, had abused it.

His stomach sank. He was just glad they had Appa back.

"Jet!"

He spun about-- Panting and shoving, Kaz and Yurgo came running around the corner, Kaz half-dragging Yurgo by the scruff of the neck. It was an image he expected, and as they approached, he folded his arms and lifted an eyebrow, shooting them a glance that silenced their panting and shoved their chins shamefully into their chests.

"I won't get angry with you guys, because we found the hit site first. But I will get angry with you guys because you don't have Tyc."  
"We looked everywhere!" Kaz panted, eyes wide. "He's no where! Ditched us!"

"No, he hasn't!" Toph suddenly exclaimed. All eyes jumped to her-- she was scowling as if something slimy and cold had just lodged onto her foot.

"He's down there, I can hear him. Where does that ringing sound come from, anyway?"

"C'mon," Jet said hastily, moving towards the hole. Yurgo followed blindly, but Kaz and Kioki stared in hesitation. Kioki looked incredulous.

"What?" she nearly laughed as Jet met her eyes. "You're not going to jump in there, are you?"

"We have get Tyc," Jet responded firmly.

"If he made that hole, he can get out of it," Kioki said. "No way are you going to fall in there and break every bone in your body."  
"I'll be fine." Jet waved her off with a sword, turning to the hole.

"You can't be serious!" she shrieked, lunging and grabbing his arm.

"You're insane, you know that? We'll find another way in!"

He shrugged her off.

"Either you're coming now, or never."  
"Ugh!" Kioki threw up her hands in disgust. "You are the most--"

He took her hand.

"Ready?"

"What--?" She froze, horrified--

"Jump!"

"NO! Jet!" But it was too late-- he jumped, down into the darkness below, Kioki pulled down with him, screaming. Yurgo had meant to follow, but was now frozen at the rim.

Kaz approached it, jaw slack, staring down into the blackness. A loud _thud _sounded, Kioki's shrieks echoing on the walls as they came to an abrupt end.

"You okay?" a voice groaned, barely audible by the distance.

"Jet, you--! I _hate_ you, you--!" Kioki's voice was slowly washed out by Jet's chuckles.

Kaz smirked at Yurgo.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"  
She slapped him on the back, and with a yell of shock, he fell forward, down, down, down into the darkness.

"Incoming!" Kaz called, hands cupped about her hands, and then she winked at the others before jumping in herself, whooping.

"Whaaaaaahhhh!"

Katara watched in horror, listening to the resounding thuds that told when someone had landed.

"_Ow!_ _Kaz_!"

"Ah, sorry, Gogo-- Ah, hey, watch it! Jet?"

"What the-- guys, get off Ki!"  
"Yo! I'm under here, you twirps!"

"Oh! Heh... sorry, Ki--"  
Toph chuckled.

"The dirt's soft," she said. "Go ahead."

"But--" Katara thought her heart had stopped watching Jet jump into that hole.

"Katara, look at this," Sokka said, gesturing the hole with his hand. "This wasn't all for nothing, something's up."  
"But that doesn't mean we have to get involved!" She wasn't about to let him break his legs jumping down there. That was a burden they couldn't afford.

"It's okay," Aang said cheerfully, "I can airbend us down!"  
"You are _all_ missing the point!" Katara snapped. "We don't know what's happened, what's down there-- it's just crazy, Sokka, we can't go sticking our noses in everything!"

"Katara, _look at this hole_, you were the one so obsessed with finding out what had happened! And incase it slipped your mind, it _might_ go noticed as people start to wake up. The whole _city_ will be clamoring around it just to get a glimpse--"

"No, Sokka!"

"Your boyfriend's already down there, aren't you worried he's broken something?"  
"Jet is _not_--!"

"Okay, okay, whatever. Aang, you wanna give me a hand?"

Aang, who had blanched at the sound of 'boyfriend' and 'Jet', grimaced and made his way crossly over to Sokka.  
"Ugh!" Katara glared, disgusted. "You're worse than Jet is!"

"Come on, Sweetness," Toph said in an inevitable tone. "You're not seriously going to sit out on this, are you? Who knows, we might find some cool underground bad guys to fight."

She made her own way to Aang and Sokka.

Katara growled under breath.

"Fine. But if we get killed--"  
"Who are you and what have you done with Miss 'I'll-Be-Outside-If-You're-Man-Enough-To-Fight-Me'?" Sokka said boredly, opening his arm to admit her.

She grumbled, making her way towards him and taking his shoulders in her arm.

"Hang on!" Aang said, and they all dived, wrapped close together. A dome of swirling air was summoned from Aang's quick fingers, supporting them like a cloud, an arm's reach from the dirt. It faded, and they struck the ground softly, all tangled in limbs.

Grunting, they worked to dislodge eachother, while up ahead, Jet and the others stopped and turned around in shock.

"Katara?" Jet made his way towards them.

"I guess-- we're helping," Katara grumbled, shoving Sokka off of her and climbing to her feet.

He grinned.

"Great. I think we'll need you guys."

"JET!"

Every eye spun to the right-- In the corner (of wherever they were), Tyc stood, hands up in fists, face aghast.

"Tyc!" Kaz shrieked, she and Yurgo breaking off at a run towards him.

"You little son of a firebender!" Kaz yelled furiously. "Do you have any idea what we--"  
"Wait!" Tyc shouted frantically, holding up his hand. They skidded to a halt, expecting something with long teeth and a camouflaged body to leap from the earth and attack them.

"Quick!" Tyc cried. "Get them! They know what happened to the bison!"

He was pointing somewhere behind them-- again, everyone turned, bewildered as they were, to where he indicated--

Two figures were running as hard as they could for a large, open gap in the walls. Looking at it closer, Katara realized it was an open door. Beyond, a long hall could be seen, lit dimly by a faint green light. But the two figures had dashed out the door and around down the hall before she could register what they had looked like.

"Who are they?" Kaz yelped, voicing everyone's burning question.

"I don't know!" Tyc ran forward from the corner to Kaz's side. "But the bison--"  
"What bison?" Aang said, standing. "You mean Appa?"  
Tyc turned to acknowledge him.

"Aang! You know the bison?"

"The sky bison? With an arrow on his head?"  
"Yeah!"  
"Yeah, that's Appa! He's mine!"

"Really?" Tyc looked ecstatic, but then his face shattered into dismay. "He was here-- I was sure of it, I saw him in trouble-- but when I got here, he was gone-- Only those two guys--"  
"Appa's fine," Sokka said, his voice cracking as he climbed to his feet. "He's out-- or, er, up-- well, he's back in the city."  
"Awesome!" Tyc said, beaming. "So he escaped! Or those two guys set him free, then!"

"Wow, this is all just super relieving," came Kioki's droning voice, "but I'd like to know where on earth we are, personally."

"Tyc, what were you thinking, running off like that?" Jet approached him, disregarding Kioki's commend, taking the boy's shoulder seriously. Tyc looked down at his feet.

"I'm sorry, I just... the bison..."

"I'm with Miss Jet on that one," Toph said loudly so she would be heard, bringing back the location issue. Kioki grimaced at the title.

"It's Kioki," she said matter-of-factly. "Thanks, though."  
Toph smirked.

"Sorry about that."

Lowering her head, she muttered into her shirt, "Though I haven't detected a difference..."

"It looks like..." came Yurgo's voice, he standing and looking up at the ceiling with a sort of nervousness.

"A cell," Tyc finished for him, nodding. "They were keeping--"

"Appa," Aang answered.

"_Appa_ here," Tyc finished, smiling at Aang, but his smile faded.

"Who's 'they'?" Jet asked grimly, quietly.

"Yeah," said Kaz. "Some kind of... secret anti-bison team?"

"I don't know," Tyc said.

"Those two guys who ran off might have something to do with it," Sokka put in, in a tone that said he was in a suspicious mood. His eyes narrowed, studying the open door ominously.

"But..." Tyc sounded in conflict within himself. "If they set him free, then why...?"  
"We don't know if they did," Kioki said, hands on her hips. "We're better off forgetting about them, and investigating new facts."  
"Ki's right," Jet said, and he aimed the hook of one blade towards the open cell door.

"And I have a tiny hunch that could get us some answers. But, hey, just my crazy opinion."  
"Nah," Kaz said sarcastically as they all began towards it. "No way!"

"You guys coming?" Jet asked, peering over at Katara.

"Of course we are," Aang said confidently, frowning. "Since it concerns Appa, I'd like some background information myself."

Jet smirked. "I thought so."

------------

Long Feng watched his men assemble, rows of men in black and emerald kimonos, all moving in pattern like a single snake's many coils. He smiled softly to himself, content in his seat, surrounded by the stone tunnels of his headquarters. The cool air of stone and underground earth seemed to waft to him in a peticularly strong scent, he being an earthbender. It harnessed him, brought life to his eyes. He felt at home here, on his own strong side. It was a place where he was truly powerful.

The quiet, orderly assembly was broken by the pants of an approaching man-- one of their own, Long Feng observed quietly, lowering his raised hands... and raised pulse.

The agent came to an abrupt halt somewhere near the back row of the regiments, the farthest he could stop while being in ear shot.

"Kids!" he called, and Long Feng's brow lowered. "And a few teenagers, coming this way! I think one of them is the Avatar! They're armed, sir!"

A portion of the agents broke into cruel laughter.

"Kids?" they chortled. "Armed?"

"Who thinks they pose a threat to the Dai Li?" another one laughed.

"I do," Long Feng growled, rising to a stand. All laughter was cut off like a slapped mouth-- they straightened, staring obediently and fearfully up into his glaring face.

"Conceal yourselves!" he hissed, hands fisted. "Wait for my command!"

They all jumped to action, scattered like sheep, some running to climb the walls, others scattering to hide behind distant corners. Long Feng cursed under his breath, but did not move. His hands shook, balled tightly. The highest ranking agent stood beside him, not subject to the general orders, and looked cautiously at his fuming leader.

"Sir?"  
"Quickly," Long Feng snarled. "Go to the sky bison's cell. I want it's presence safely anonymous."

"Yes, sir--" The agent took off at full speed, silent and swift like a shadow.

Long Feng leaned back against the rock in the newfound, intense silence and waited.

------------

Jet lead the way with Tyc and Kioki at his sides, Katara, Kaz, and Yurgo second in line, with Aang, Sokka, and Toph bringing up the rear. This was purposeful: Jet felt it wise to station earthbenders at their prime points, for detecting purposes and defense.

"These lights..." Katara said, almost whispering. She guestured the emerald lamps. "They remind me of..."

"Yeah, they look like..." Sokka's eyes narrowed, staring at them closely...

"Wait, this--!"

"Ah, Avatar. Welcome."

The voice was rich and low, echoing towards them like the strum of a cello. They spun in their places, facing to their right, a large clearing. The walls seemed to expand as if endlessly, more hallways and corners leading off to who knew where. About them, empty space, empty ground... all but for a single man at it's head, standing atop a raised platform of stone, hands folded calmly behind his back. His hard, deep eyes blazed past their shoulders right into Aang's, holding there and smiling wickedly.

"Long Feng," Aang growled, and then demanded, "What are you up to?"

"Jet," Long Feng said, smirking softly upon the lead. "Nice of you to visit, as well. Reminiscing old times, are you?"

"What are you talking about?" Jet snarled. "Why did you trap the Avatar's bison here?"

"It was you?" Aang stepped forward, furious, but Sokka seized his arm, stopping him. "How dare you!"

"Very simply, actually," Long Feng said coolly. "It's a shame he was only our guest for a night... I rather enjoyed his company."  
"Well, that's too bad," Kioki spat. "Because he didn't enjoy yours."

Long Feng clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Tut... And now I'm faced with the dilemma over offering hospitality to you young ones. Let's see, shall we imprison you all together, or try solitary confinement? Much less mischief to deal with that way..."

"You're not touching us!" Sokka yelled. "Why did you trap Appa? What do you want with us? Tell us now!"

"You?" Long Feng mocked bewilderment. "I can't see how you are valuable to the continuing of Dai Li power. Why, who in the city would believe the word of a scrawny little boy?"

"Scrawny? _Little_?" Sokka lunged for him, even though he was a fair distance away, but Katara threw herself before him, cutting off his offense.

"Sokka, no! Stop!"

"You don't know who you're dealing with!" Sokka snarled. "I hope you ready to--"

"Waste my time fighting you off?" Long Feng finished. He sighed. "I'm afraid, yes, I am ready. I wish I didn't have to deal with this so soon, but it seems it's true, young Avatar. We _were_ enemies from the beginning, weren't we?"

"_You're_ an enemy to the Earth Kingdom," Aang snarled. "To the Earth King himself! _And_ you're an enemy to me, and my friends!"

"I can tell you now," Long Feng said coldly, "that any chance of persuading the King against me is lost for you. Just because you hold the place of Avatar does not put you at higher power, or give you an immediate worthiness of trust. Attempt to thwart the work we Dai Li have done, and _you_ will become the enemy, the enemy to peace. The Earth King will not tolerate your young blasphemies. Agree to exit the city now, and I'll release all charges against you."

"We're not going anywhere!" Kioki snapped. "And who's to say you're in position to bargain?"

"The rules of this game," Long Feng said, smirking evily, "are _my_ rules."

"We've played by yours," Aang yelled, "Now fight by ours!"

He leapt forward, wielding his staff like an ax. As it was brought down to the earth, a swirling vortex of air spiraled towards Long Feng, spanning to envelope his entire half the clearing. Simultaneously, a great wall of rock rose in the man's defense-- the vortex shattered against the sudden obstacle, but Aang was not done that fast. He leapt forward, just as Long Feng called to the darkness,

"Take them into custody!"

Like spiders from a nest, a swarm of Dai Li agents leapt from nowhere. Melting from the walls, previously invisible, the fight broke out like a sudden outburst of rain. Tyc and Toph took them up in a second, and the ground was suddenly a shaking, rippling ocean of shifting and hurtling earth. Columns of rock shot to pin an enemy, walls and free boulders all soaring and sliding in a neighborhood of chaotic defense and offense. The others leapt to action as well, a whip of water swirling into view, the ringing of swords and shattering rock erupting like a storm-- Kaz and Yurgo drew handfuls of daggers, jumping to work, handling at least five knives at a time: their skill was exceptional, perfectly accountable for the lack of swords or bending abilities. Kioki needed neither sword or bending: she fought free style, striking pressure points and shattering oncoming rocks in swift, bold motions of Kong Fu. She was near masterful, a hidden talent preserved, now revealed to exhibit to it's full potential.

Jet worked his attacks to purposefully weave his way towards Long Feng, who stood back, admiring the battle with a raised eyebrow of amusement.

"Come on, you," Jet snarled under his breath, fighting off agents with only half of his mind. "Come fight. Come show us just how dangerous you are."  
As the fight unfolded, the hands and cards began to change. With their bending alone, Tyc and Toph (brilliantly side by side, though Toph seemed disgruntled about it, wincing whenever Tyc delivered a move) had managed to demolish at least half of what regiments there were: more were falling to Katara and Aang, who were also able to take sweeps at large numbers of men with their bending. The others were left to one-on-one combat, but to an equally positive effect: the kids were not kids, not in the sense the agents had scoffed about. They knew their skills, they knew who their enemies were. The battle was becoming more and more matched, that Long Feng's smirk was slowly whiped from his lips, as at last his men began to take the downhill, no match for the two little earthbenders...

Long Feng spun on his heel, allowing himself one last glance at the fight, and then disappeared into the dark passage at his back.

"Oh, no you don't," Jet snarled, fighting forward even harder, until at last he was free to run.

"Coward!" he bellowed at Long Feng's back, and pursued him with all the speed he could muster.

"Jet!" Kioki followed him, clearly disapproving of his solitary attempt at catching Long Feng, absently high-kicking and backhanding several agents on the way.

"Jet, what do you think you're doing?" She was near anger now, and sprinted into the dark passage behind him.

Back in the battle, Tyc paused, setting a frantic hand to the earth.

"Jet and Kioki! They're gone, I can't feel them in here!"

"They've gone after Long Feng!" Sokka shouted, pointing towards the passageway at the far wall. "He's escaped!"

"They'll need a bender!" Aang yelled, leaping towards the escape point.

Katara, who was closest to the passageway, held up her hands at Aang and Sokka's approaching figures.

"No, you guys stay and fight them off, I'll go!"

"Be careful!" Sokka called, distracted, turning back around to fight off an agent's upraised hand. Aang gulped, watching her back, but then was also forced to defend himself, leaving Katara to do her will.

------------

Kioki growled to herself, following Jet's fading back as hard as she could, determined not to lose sight of him. They ran through a long, curving tunnel, all dark but for lamps of burning emeralds stationed along the walls every ten meters or so. She could hear her heart pounding in her head: this wouldn't lead them anywhere friendly.

"Jet! Jet, if we die for this, I'll kill you!"  
"What, you're just going to run forever?" came Jet's jeering shouts to Long Feng from up ahead. They bounced madly down the tunnel walls, erupting as lifelines in Kioki's ears.

"Jet... no... don't be so brave and stupid!" she hissed to herself, running faster, ignoring the growing stitch in her side.

"If this the Long Feng we're supposed to be threatened by?" Jet's wicked laugh chilled her blood. "So pathetic!"

"Jeer all you want, boy!" came Long Feng's deep bark. "You are unwise to follow me!"  
"Right!" Jet called back. "I'm supposed to fear you! A coward who runs! Okay, I'll remember that one!"

His sarcasm almost brought a smirk to her lips, pride for her friend (more than a friend?) almost rose in her heart, but the situation was too dire-- Long Feng could hurt him, hurt him seriously... She couldn't let that happen...

There was a loud crash, followed by Jet's cry of half surprise, half effort-- Kioki's heart nearly stopped, but then his laughter started it up again.

"Ha! You call that a hit? Stop and face me, old man!"

"You waste energy so lightly," Long Feng growled. "In the end, it will work against you!"  
"Yeah, like _you're_ getting anywhere by just running!"  
There was another bang, like a wall being thrown from it's place, and Kioki nearly screamed for Jet--

"Come on! You can do better than that! Why don't you stop running and face me? Then you can crush me all you'd like!"

"Silence, boy!"

"Jet!" Kioki didn't know why, but she was close to tears. Having him so close to danger... those were _rocks_, _boulders_! Not _sand_! She was stumbling over the rubble of Long Feng's attacks!

"Jet, stop! Please!"

"Kioki?" It seemed Jet's flickering figure stopped, shocked, and another crash sounded around the corner-- his image was flooded in the force of an attack: a hailstorm of stone.

"JET!"

But when the dust cleared, Jet's figure melted from the wall, and continued running.

"Kioki, get out of here!"

"No! I'm not letting you out of my sight!"

"Go back!"

"He'll hurt you, you--! You're so _stupid_, you know that?"

"Thank you!" he called, dodging another flying attack from Long Feng.

"Hey, Kioki, will you check this guy out? He's not even brave enough to stop and face me! He wikes to wun, da witto coward!"

"SILENCE!" Long Feng roared, sending another attack, but Jet only laughed, narrowly avoiding it.

"This is too pathetic!" he cried jubilantly. "I thought you had overridden the rule of the Earth King!"  
"SILENCE, boy! Or you'll wish you'd never followed me here!"

They continued running, down through the winding tunnel, deeper and deeper into the earth. Kioki knew it, because the air was getting thicker and thicker... colder, and colder... darker... and darker...

"Where's 'here', huh?" Jet shouted, his voice ringing down the tunnel again. "You're secret hiding place for cowards?"  
"No!" Long Feng answered, and suddenly, as she turned the corner--

Green light. It would not have been so bright and intense if they had not just emerged from a dark tunnel. It was cave, but like nothing Kioki had ever seen-- it's walls were crawling with stalks and clusters of emerald crystals, all shimmering and sparkling together. The ground was littered with them too, but there grew a clearing of soft dirt. The cave dripped with the long, forgotten scent of a stream, the deep, lively fragrance of flourishing earth. Off to the side, small tunnels lead away, perhaps to more caves, their edges rimmed with the same green crystals.

"My territory!" Long Feng finished his answer, drawing up his arms. He stood in the center of the clearing, utter victory on his flushed face. "This is an earthbender's sanctuary! Stand against me here, and you stand not a chance!"

"Oh, yeah?" Jet was poised at the entrance, brandishing his swords. "Try me, coward!"

"Jet, NO!" Kioki ran at his back, reaching for his arms--

But he had already launched himself forward, his swords ringing against the crystalline walls like a siren's enchanted voice in a lost ocean.

There was a thundering of shattering rocks, the slicing of crossed blades. Kioki was weary-- the world swam before her and she caught the wall of the cave, struggling to stay upright. Jet and Long Feng were exhausted too, but they each fought their hardest, only coming to match in skill. There was no weaker player: they fought with the rest of their exhilaration.

Kioki wanted to throw herself forward, attack Long Feng like she had never attacked anyone, but her strength was draining like an open wound... She could only watch, weakened by some power she could not deny, some other hand of might that was slowly crushing her in it's grasp... she tried to fight it... her head rang, her throat began to dry: it was exactly what had happened the day before, what seemed like so long ago, away in Jet's arms... in his kiss...

"Jet!"

But it was not her voice that called him... no, it was Long Feng's. And his tone frightened her: it was smooth, unfatigued, aspark with a new secret that chilled her skin. It rippled through her like a warning, but she couldn't move...

"Now comes your punishment! The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai!"

The battle stopped-- The only sound was Long Feng's breathing; it was as if Jet had died, standing there, still and silent like a statue... and then...

"I am honored to accept his invitation."

His voice... how low, how artificial... It was pleased, calm, as if every problem, every enemy in the world had been swept away...

He whirled at her, holding his swords aloft, and charged.

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**A/N**: Aaaahhhhhh! Cliffie! Noooooo! (even tho you might all know what's going to happen...) anyway. Thanks for reading!! I'll update as soon as I can, sorry for the slight delay in getting this one up!! I love reviews!! Oh, and please don't shake your head at Jet- He was awesome! Forever cursed be Long Feng! lol;)


	26. Chapter 26: Soar

26

**A/N**: Whoo!! Did you guys see the Season 3 trailer? (of course, this'll all seem downplayed in a few months, but right now it's the day after it's release! hehe) Anyway, it was friggin awesome. It's sad how excited I am. So hope you guys like this chapter! Again, i apologize if you're disappointed by somewhat similar stuff in my story and the actual Earth episodes- it won't be like that forever

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Kioki didn't know what was happening, or why-- the last thing she wanted to do was fight Jet, even dodge his attacks. It all just felt to distrustful; he couldn't be doing this consciously. He just couldn't be.

But, at the last minute, when the tip of his sword flashed right before her eyes, instinct forced her waning body aside. She stumbled, her vision overtaken by one, great blur... In her heart, there was gratitude for it... Now as she exhibited the most lack of trust she had ever in her whole life, she wouldn't be able to look in his eyes...

She heard his cry, and saw his shadowy figure launch towards her again-- she was barely aware of her legs, alive by adrenaline, directing her clear of his path. She could feel the sweat break out over her forehead, the cold dread that was slowly clutching her heart.

No, Jet.

No, stop.

Please...

I can't...

Her throat was closing now-- the feeling was so familiar, so terrifying... She leapt aside a third time, turning a fourth, literally collapsing to her knees to avoid a blow for her neck...

She was moving by pure instinct now-- she could barely see his swords, mere silver gleams that grew wider the closer they came to her face... Jet was just a shadow, a wraith directing the swords...

She found herself spinning again, barely out of reach...

Jet's cries were echoes of the past in the deep canyons of her fading mind... She wanted to cling to them, to try and force herself awake again... But there was nothing else she could do, the only thing that mattered was survival... Survive...

"Jet!" Her voice was unfamiliar-- she could barely force her lungs to contract; she was desperate for oxygen, more, more-- no, no, she had to breathe-- breathe--

Jet--

Jet...

I love...

Her torso moved to leap, but her legs had no strength. She lifted her arms in the last burst of energy she could muster... Pain hardly present zipped dimly up her wrist ... his sword tore free of her flesh but she could barely feel it...

"Jet, ple..."

She clutched her throat, staggering, jumping away with the last of her strength...

There was pain again on her shoulder... something warm and thick was pouring down her elbow, over the front of her shirt... Strength was a past luxury, consciousness was some lost dream long forgotten.

Her arms extended in defense and met his... She grasped his knuckles for the fraction of a second that she could still identify them... pushing, holding them away...

Suddenly all force against her was released-- she felt her head hit the dirt, felt everything finally go to black, after eons of fighting back.

..._"Kioki-- no, I didn't-- Kioki, no! Ki! Ki, no! No! NO!"..._

Her heart loved the voice, wanted it close to her, but her mind was already black.

-------------

The moment was so close. Suki could almost taste it-- they would be free today.

All in all, three hits from each of them had proven enough to bend the surface of the barricade: now all they had to do was penetrate it, break it.

Around her, the sounds of the cave were maddening. It was certainly before dawn... she had learned to calculate the time of day by the reactions of her body... Yushura and Lisyyun lay beside her, fast asleep. She could hardly believe them. How could they sleep, when every breath they took could be their last, when the cave walls seemed to scream it? Her stomach ached, her throat was dry and sticky... Not a drop of water, nothing, only them and the rock, and the haunting tales it told. The stone itself grinned evily upon her, taunting her resolve, daring her unleash her wrath upon it. It was not wrath, no, only harnessed grace, calmed and peaceful strength. She tried to focus her mind, to defeat the stone in the presence of her thoughts, but it was not enough. It wasn't.

Dry... Her throat was so dry... weakness gnawed at her muscles. Numerous hours without water... How much longer would their bodies hold out? What if the necessities of life won before they could penetrate the rock?  
No. She could not let that happen. It simply couldn't, not when they had exerted so much and were now so close...

And yet they slept on. They slept, as if the world were black and white! There was not an angel watching over them, preserving them, until they at last made it out! They were not healthy enough to waste such precious time, not sleeping, anyway! Meditating for more strength, perhaps, but no... She could not stand the idea of them accepting this prison, lying down as if it were a new home to adjust to, acting just as naturally as they would in the outside world.

They would get out, and they would never be trapped ever again. They were the Kyoshi warriors, free, masters of a grace that would overpower the thickest of stone.

Shakily, she rose to her feet. The walls of the cave swam around her, the blood in her head sloshing over her eyes, blinding her senses... Pain erupted at the back of her skull... She beat back the headache, refocused her eyesight, commanded her body be firm. Crossing the gravel, being sure to make as much noise as possible in hopes the other two would wake, she planted herself before the cracked barricade.

How easy it looked, to simply push against it with the pad of a finger and watch it all tumble away. How glorious the sunlight would be, how warm, how refreshing would be the water from the stream, the berries sprouted about the forest...

She drew back both fists, closing her eyes. In her mind, the choreography of a gathering power filled her. She moved to collect her might, focusing all her energy on the steps she would take. The dried blood that caked her hands and wrists, the bandages that had been secured over their near-broken knuckles, it all disappeared. There was only strength, ability, no longer a scrap of weakness. The wall was another opponent, one she had defeated, one she was far stronger than...

A face. It filled her mind, forming as if by the wind. The features assembled like the finger strokes of an angel, a god's finger painting the face before her...

Sokka smiled sheepishly up at her, struck speechless with the love in his heart.

Love just as powerful erupted inside Suki-- Strength she had been so focused on gathering seemed to pour into her veins, thundering madly through her limbs. She felt electrified; lightning coursed through her, igniting her senses, wiping away any flicker of weakness. She turned to the rock, Sokka's face still engraven across her mind, and struck it with her first fist. Rumbling followed, the sounds of Yushura and Lisyyun waking with a start, but she ignored them: the only things alive in the whole universe were Sokka's eyes, his smile, his confidence. She struck immediately with her second fist, feeling bits of rock cascade over her knuckles and wrist. But she wasn't done-- The blush in Sokka's cheeks, the loyalty that sparked his gaze, it held more power than any form of Kong Fu she could have ever learned. She twisted, raising a leg and sending her heel into the rock as hard as she could. Large chunks of rock screeched as they were broken from their place-- she turned, slamming her second heel into the same spot, feeling more rocks break free of their earthly bindings.

Sokka's voice coursed through her blood: what he was saying, it was impossible to tell, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that she saw him, he was alive, and she was going to see him again...

She sent both her fists forward again, slamming the rock with both rows of knuckles with all the strength she could ever had channeled. The world seemed to shake against her closed eyes: the roars were earsplitting, yet she welcomed them like music... she could smell the grass outside, hear the pulsing stream...

Sokka smiled one last time, and she opened her eyes.

The world spilled out before her, the light of the sun more brilliant and warm than it had ever been before.

-----------

The world crashed down on Jet's heart-- he didn't know what had happened, something-- Long Feng-- no, Kioki, no--

She lay before him, all but lifeless, large, deep gashes at her right shoulder and her left hand, blood spilling in rivers from each. She was coated in the blood: how could someone lose that much and live? It was impossible-- and yet Jet demanded she live, demanded to believe he hadn't done this to her... he _hadn't_...

"Remarkable," came Long Feng's voice. Hatred as black as space seemed to gather from the earth, channeling into Jet's pulsing veins.

"How easily that strong a trance can be broken," Long Feng finished. "I hardly saw her touch you."

_"I didn't do this!"_ Jet wailed at him. _"Tell me I didn't do this!"_

"You _did_," Long Feng growled, and despite the calmness of his voice, there was not a flicker of a smile on his lips.

"This was your punishment. Use strength for the wrong reason, and it works against you."

Jet screamed, raising his swords, running at Long Feng like a beast set loose on it's prey.

_"You did it! You killed her!" _

Long Feng moved to react, spreading his fingers to call forth the rock beneath this feet, but he had underestimated Jet's rage-- the boy was upon him faster than he had realized--

Excruciating pain shot up his face-- he was thrown to one side by some force he had hardly seen. Jet's sword rang as it tore away from his skin, his panting breath seeming to echo as a testimonial of his hatred. Long Feng raised a startled hand to his stinging cheek-- it was carved open, blood spilling forth onto his neck and chin... He tasted the blood in his mouth open in shock, blinked it out of his eyes.

"You--" He straightened, trying to bite back the pain, fury building in his heart. Jet only stared at him, swords shaking in his trembling arms... He ran at the man again, but this time, he was ready.

"Don't act so rashly!" Long Feng barked at the raging boy. "You waste time trying to sate your hatred on me, when your friend stands a chance of survival, and you let it drain away like the blood that now runs from her wounds!"

"I will _not_ let her die!" Jet roared. "She won't! But you _will_!"

Long Feng shot another steeple of stone towards the boy, just buying time to escape-- he didn't have time for this: if his wound bled for much longer, he would most likely lose consciousness. But he was in luck-- the battle only lasted a few moments, before back on the ground, the girl moaned...

Jet's gaze leapt to her-- inside him, his shattered heart was now reassembling with this flicker of hope-- he saw her brow furrow, her fingers flexing, trying to feel her surroundings... If his spirits could soar any higher, he would have definitely taken flight.

"She comes first!" he yelled at the evil man before him. "But we're not finished here!"

"I could hardly say so myself," Long Feng said, backing away into the shadows. Part of him, the part with the stinging gash on his face, the part that he had to cover with an honorable valour... it burned to attack the boy, to unleash vengeance upon him. How dare he hurt him like this, so cold-bloodedly... He felt his blood drip down his collar, onto his chest, and was filled with an even greater desire to hurt the boy... But he decided he already had. A game like this required time... Let the anger settle, the strategies boil. He would sate his wound soon enough.

Jet collapsed to his knees at Kioki's side, listening with screaming ears as Long Feng earthbent his escape-- No, he thought, no! I have to get him, I can't let him escape, look what he did to Kioki--!

Kioki!

"Kioki! Please, Ki, talk to me... Ki?"  
Her lashes fluttered as she struggled to open her eyes... They shifted up towards him, fastening with his... There was a moment where it was as if she had no idea who he was, and then he forced a sorrowful smile, and the corners of her lips pulled weakly to try a smile in return.

"Ki." He felt something hot sting his eyes, but he hardly cared.

"Um..." she murmured, her voice cracked with a lack of consciousness, "I think you owe me some blood."

His struggled laugh came out as a sob-- tears poured down his face but they were so minimal compared to the despair in his chest...

She chuckled weakly, reaching up to touch his face.

"Man, I wish Kaz could see this... You're a mess, you know that?"

He only sobbed again, leaning down to rest his forehead on hers.

"Jet," she whispered, "Jet, quiet, I'm going to be fine."

"Ki... Ki..." All he could say was her name-- it was impossible to apologize, to try and dismiss the fact that he had hurt her so much... it would be impossible for her to forgive him, he just knew it... There was no voicing it, no escaping this... But he couldn't help feeling the swell in his heart, the immense gratitude... She was forgiving him anyway, even before he could have expressed any apology, she was dismissing it like a game gone wrong. She was an angel now, there, before him. There was nothing more angelic in the world than her small smile, her absolute forgiveness...

"You're perfect," he whispered. "You're just flawless, you're--"  
"Oh, don't even," she said crossly. "What are you talking about? With all the things I've done in my life? You could say I deserved this."

"No," he closed his eyes, feeling the tears flow freely: there would never be enough, he didn't bother to brush them away. Suddenly, something cold gripped his heart, and when he realized he should be speedily working to bandage her up...

He tore the armor from his shoulders, throwing them to the ground, and then pulled his red shirt off over his head, the first thing he could think of. There, in only his black body-garment, he set to work slicing it into strips with his swords. He thought he saw a flicker of amusement in her eyes, and couldn't help but laughing in his tears.

"Well, Jet," she said, chuckling herself, "you're certainly enthusiastic."

"You... you wish," he said, wiping at his eyes and smiling, and then returning to the shirt. When it was a collection of maroon strands all lying in a heap, he turned to Kioki. Taking her good shoulder in one hand and her good wrist in another, he helped her be raised to a sitting position. She clutched his shoulders for support, every inch of her shaking from a loss of strength. First, he bandaged the six-inch long gash on her wrist and forearm, using half the strands, not knowing if that was wise or not, but he didn't care. He was going to stop her bleeding no matter what it took.

Securing one last strap as a sling, he set her arm down, there now safely bandaged against her chest. Next, he turned to her shoulder. Slipping a knife from his belt, he slit her shirt enough to expose the wound, much to her richly sarcastic amusement.

"Now, how many excuses has this been to get my shirt off? Five?"

"Quiet," he said, blushing slightly, and worked to bandage her shoulder, which was more complex than he pictured it.

"Right," she said weakly. "When things get medical, who cares? All things go."  
He laughed, hating himself for feeling so humorous. "Hush!"

Minutes passed in close silence, the careful dressing of her wounds, the quiet pounding of their hearts. Jet could say he had settled in that time-- though the hatred for Long Feng was still hot against his eyes, his mind, blocking out any other straying thoughts. He wasn't fully aware of his hands guiding Kioki back to the dirt, watching her lay there, closing her eyes, trying to gather her strength...

"I'm going to be fine," she whispered, smiling up at him. He blinked, suddenly surprised she had spoken. He found his fingers straying her to face, touching each of her features as if they were each fragile gems placed before him. The guilt soared into him again, clashing with the anger. He didn't know what to feel, what he could feel capable of expressing...

"Kioki?"

"Mm?"  
"Do you know what happened to me?"  
She blinked, sighing, and closing her eyes again. "Something happened between you and Long Feng. But I didn't catch it, I was kind of blanking out."

Fear gripped him. "What do you mean?"  
She shrugged her good shoulder. "I think he just said something to you, and then you responded--"

"No, no... you. The blanking out."

She glanced up at him, a small smile on her lips.

"Remember what happened a day or two ago? When I delivered the fairy princess faint?"

He couldn't help smiling, taking her good hand in his.

"Yes," he said sadly, softly.

"Yeah, it felt like that..." And she trailed off, looking past him, over at the crystals. He felt his heart sob: her voice was so soft, so weak... as delicate as a whisper. He stroked her jaw again, bidding her gaze. He found that he could say it now.  
"I'm so sorry, Ki."

She smiled, and in her eyes, he saw appreciation clouded by mischief...

"You can kiss me," she whispered. "That should do the trick."

He was already leaning down towards her, her hand cradeling his hair...

"JET! KIOKI! _Pain_ in _justice_, you two scared the living _sh_--!"

"Kaz?" Jet and Kioki's faces mirrored hers: shock, though they couldn't match her extremities. She had seen Kioki's wounds.

"Oh my-- Kioki, what happened?! How the Fire Nation--?! Yurgo! Guys! They're in here, I found them! HURRY UP!"

She turned to bellow into the tunnel, several other voices echoing from inside, and then bolted straight to Jet's side.

_"Is she dead?!"_ she shrieked, and saw Kioki's stunned expression, then let out an exuberant sigh of relief.

"_Great _Earth King, don't _ever_ do that to me again--! We thought you guys had been _crushed_-- Wow, Jet, are _you_ a sight for soar eyes--" (she wide-eyed the conditions of his dress) "And Kioki, Good Earth, you look like a million--"

Jet slapped a hand over her mouth.

"All right, that's enough cursing for today."

"Jet! Kioki! You're alive!"

Yurgo came scampering in, followed by Tyc, who threw his arms around Jet's neck. Jet blinked, laughing slightly, as Yurgo acknowledged Kioki, and Kaz was left free to start swearing again.

"Jeez, guys, relax--" Jet ruffled Tyc's hair, speaking to them all. "We weren't gone that long--"

"You disappeared, you sap!" Kaz cried, suddenly furious. "What were you thinking, running off to be a hero--!"

"Jet!"

They all turned-- Sokka, Aang, and Toph came bounding out of the tunnel, looking strangely adult-like among all of Jet's balistic kids. Sokka was glaring.

"Where's Katara?"

"Katara?" Jet blinked, stunned. "Wasn't she with you?"  
"She followed you, to be sure you were all right, to help you!" Aang said. He looked fearful, not angry. "She's not here?"  
"I haven't seen her anywhere," Jet said, fear clutching his own heart.

"Oh, no--" Sokka glanced about, as if she would be stuck to one of the walls or ceiling.

"We gotta find her," Aang said. "Toph, Tyc, try to detect her!"

Tyc lowered a hand to the ground while Toph didn't move-- everyone was quiet, watching the two earthbenders as they listened...

"She's... not alone," Toph said quietly...

"She's just on the other side of this wall!" Tyc said, leaping to his feet and pointing down to the end of the cave. He turned innocently to Toph.

"Can't you feel her?"

"I _could_ have," Toph said bitterly, "if your obnoxious ringing hadn't broken my concentration."

But he didn't respond. Sokka and Aang began making their way to the cave wall, studying it carefully.

"Step back, Sokka," Aang said, and as Sokka retreated a few steps, Aang shoved his fist forward. The cave blew on their side, so as not to hurt Katara by surprise. The hailstorm of dust and rock showered into their faces, and Sokka retreated farther back, shielding his eyes.

Toph tapped her foot lightly and the dust was sucked away in an instant: there, before them, stood Katara--

beside what appeared to be a man made of ice.

"Why, thank you, Aang," she said matter-of-factly, a look of grim victory on her face mixed with a still-boiling anger. Sokka leapt towards her.

"Where did you go? We lost you!"  
"I'm sorry," she said, unapologetic, "but I had to take care of something first."

The bold look in her eyes told half the story-- Aang and Sokka stared at the ice man, and were able to make out details...

Sokka burst into victorious laughter. Aang only stared, impressed, at Long Feng's pale face glazed in shock, his arms and legs frozen in a fumbling stance. His eyes shifted madly in their sockets, unable to glare, burning with fury.

"No way!" Kaz laughed, pulling Yurgo behind her and running towards their prisoner.

"What is it?" Toph and Tyc both asked. Toph smirked.

"What, you can't read the ice too?"  
Tyc shook his head, confused at her smugness. "No..."

"It's Long Feng!" Sokka cackled. "Katara's frozen him solid! He looks like the biggest idiot! _Hah_!"

"Be careful, Sokka," Katara said seriously, though there was a flicker of humor behind her eyes. "We don't want him getting too angry. It's dangerous, holding someone hostage like this."

"Wow, how'd you sneak up on him, Katara?" Aang sounded truly amazed. "He looks like he had no idea what was coming."

"He didn't," Katara said simply. "I guess you can say I've found my own way around these caves."

"You used other tunnels?" Jet hadn't left Kioki's side, but he was staring at Long Feng so darkly, Katara blushed, for no other reason but that. He shifted his gaze, looking at her carefully.

"Yes," she said proudly. "I found a few that lead to other caves, and thought Long Feng would be sure to escape, so I'd laid wait incase he came through one of them. I guessed right."  
Jet's jaw tightened, his hands balling into fists.

"What are we going to do with him?"  
"_Eeugh_, what happened to his face?" Kaz and Yurgo were staring at the gash Jet had given him down his cheek. Long Feng's eyes shifted madly towards them, but were still unable to pose a threat.

"I say we take him to the Earth King," Katara said confidently, "and show him what his _Grand Secretariat_ has _really_ been doing for Ba Sing Se."

"I don't know, Katara," Sokka said, his laughter having faded. He rubbed the back of his neck. "At a first glance, if I were the Earth King, I'd think _we_ were the enemies. I mean, we've got his crony frozen in ice-- it's a little against our favor, don't you think?"  
"But we can explain everything!" Katara persisted. "We can't just let him get away with all this. The Earth King has to know."

No one had time to respond: instantly, a great rumble sounded from what sounded to be just outside the wall. The crystals all flashed dangerously.

"That's the Dai Li," Toph said. "They're looking for us-- we gotta get out of here, plan or no plan."

"We can't," Jet said. Everyone stared at him.

"I can't," he said. "Kioki can't go, at least not yet."

"Jet, what are you--" Kioki began, but Jet touched his fingers to her lips.

"No," he said. "If you exert too much energy now, you'll lose more than you can afford to."

"Jet--!"

"We're staying here, Ki, until you're stronger," Jet said firmly, and it was the end of it. Kioki stared long into his eyes, and then nodded.

"We'll hold off the Dai Li," Kaz said. "And go back to the surface-- we'll make sure they don't find you."

"Yeah," Yurgo said. "We'll keep them busy."

"Jet, are you sure?" Katara asked gently. "Should some of us stay with you?"

"No," Jet said, shaking his head. "I'll be fine by myself. You should leave Long Feng here, too."

"What?" Sokka shook his head. "No, what would that do?"  
"You can't take him to the surface now," Jet said, "the Dai Li would have a shot at getting him. You guys need to hurry and get the Dai Li away from this cave, so they can't find him, or Kioki."  
"At least keep an earthbender with you," Katara said. "Long Feng is sure to thaw out by tomorrow; you need a way to contact us so we can come freeze him again."  
"I'll stay with them," Tyc said, going to stand beside Jet. "They're like my parents."

Kioki smiled, touching Jet's hand, who blushed ever so slightly.

"Okay," Aang said. "It sounds like a good plan--"

"Wait!" Katara cried suddenly, and every jumped. She looked like she had just been struck by lightning.

"Can't I just heal Kioki?"

"Yeah!" Kaz and Yurgo both said in unison, spinning around to look at Jet.

But Jet shook his head-- Kioki didn't look enthusiastic either.

"What?" Katara's jaw went slack.

"You can heal her cuts, but... there's more to her wounds... I don't think you can help it, Katara."  
For a moment, they were silent, and then Katara nodded.

"Okay," she said softly. "May I heal what I can?"  
"Please do," Jet said, moving somewhat from Kioki to allow Katara room. At that moment, another rumble sounded from the outer walls of the cave. Toph grimaced.

"They're getting closer. Speedy fingers, Sweetness."

"It'll be quick," Katara said, jogging to Kioki's side and preparing the water. She extended her hands, letting the water collect about them. Everyone watched, those who had not seen it before gawking in awe, as the water glowed like two mittens over her fingers. She lowered both to Kioki's wounds, Jet unwrapping the bandages as she went. The wet blood began to evaporate, the gashes sealing, flesh melting together as if no tear had been made. Jet watched with tears in his eyes, seeing pain lifting from Kioki's face, gratitude and amazement sparking in her own eyes.

Katara's finish was accentuated by another rumble, more loud and abrupt than those in the past. Toph bristled.

"Those snoops... I'm gonna kick their butts."

"Let's go!" Sokka called, leading the way towards the tunnel. "Make sure you call us the minute he thaws out enough to speak!"

Jet nodded. "I will."

All but Jet, Kioki, Tyc, and the ice block that was Long Feng filed into the tunnels. As Katara rose, Kioki caught her hand, stopping her.

"Katara-- thank you," she murmured. The effects of the more hidden wound were still evident on her face: she spoke with the same weakness, yet her eyes had a new life, a new burden lifted.

"That's what I'm here for," Katara said kindly, smiling, and caught Jet's gaze. The look in his eyes was gratitude enough-- she squeezed his shoulder as she hurried past: he watched her until she had disappeared from sight down the long tunnel.

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**A/N**: Don't you just love Kaz? And of course, we'd all love to see Long Feng frozen in a block of ice. Sighs in vengeance... Anywho, hope you liked it, please review!!


	27. Chapter 27: Thrall

27

**A/N**: At last, a long-awaited fact is revealed. Don't be disappointed (if that's the reaction you get.) Viva Zutara. Sorry for the delay, i was at Bryce/Grand Canyon for a couple days... Reviews are cookies! Also, sorry for any errors, i'm writing these chapters super fast, so... yeah!

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Maanyu awoke. It was perfectly natural: it was when everyone woke up, the rupture of dawn, the sounds of market early-risers, the scents of bakeries and brewing noodles rising along the street corners like a spring breeze. He wished to remain in his bed, letting the day and it's busy pressures pass by like an ignored insect-- One could only take so much before one had to collapse: he felt like he had reached that point at last.

He thought of the tea shop where he worked, Mushi, the other waiters... He enjoyed that atmosphere. They were pleasant company: even Lee was amusing at times. He smirked, rolling over onto his side...

...catching his reflection in the far mirror. He was surprised at the haze across his eyes, how utterly two-dimensional they appeared... On the peek of his right cheek bone, just below the far corner of his right eye, a small tattoo of a crescent moon was visible. He stared at it, as if surprised it was on his face, but in reality he was flooded with so much memory he could hardly harness it all. It was there he remembered why he had placed it there, what testimony it carried...

Her face... it sparkled in his mind's eye, those bright blue eyes so much like his own. They were so full of life, so much innocent curiosity that had carried through all the years of her life... He had watched every year, spent every moment by her side. So much had passed between them, and yet so little before... He blinked, trying to wash out the darker edges of their lives, their relationship. It seemed so hard, just to beckon enough happy moments to wash the sadness that filled her eyes shimmering before him.

"_Do you ever wonder what's out there?"_

_They stand on the balcony of the palace, the great ocean spilled before them as a writhing blanket of a million sparkling sapphires. The sunset is liquid, splashing stains across the sky, a blazing orange-gold, more bright than anything he has ever seen. Her words spark dreams and hopes inside him, and it pulls a smile at his lips. He crosses a wrist over another to gently touch her gloved hand with his own._

_"Yeah. Who doesn't?"  
Her white hair flutters as she turns to meet his gaze-- the beauty of her face, caressed by the yellow light of the sunset, skips over his mind. Any emotions of attraction are blocked by a lifetime of utter friendship. The love in which he gazes into her eyes is like that of a sibling: her own playfulness is flickering across her turquoise irises like an invisible wink. _

_"My mother doesn't. She tells me to forget all but our city."  
"You mother is the queen," he says, lifting an eyebrow. "She's supposed to say that. She's supposed to be sated with a life here, because either way, she has no choice but to stay."  
She lifts her own in response._

_"And you're saying I have any more freedom? You're her nephew, you're practically in the same place as I am."  
His eyes flash with a mischievous intensity._

_"We could always run away."  
She looks shocked, yet he knows the excitement and longing that clings at her heart as the words escape his lips._

_"Run away? Maanyu, are you--"  
"Come on, Yue, you know it would be fantastic."  
"Perhaps, but leave everything we have here? Take it all as a life we can just dismiss--"  
"You are so literal. You have to think like that sometimes!"_

_He points out to the sunset, then turns his eyes to her after a moment. She is staring out at the sun as if she wishes to sift meaning from it's burning depths, but she finds none, and only catches his eye with one of amusment._

_"How do you think like the sunset?"_

_"You think free. The sunset is never the same, all nights it expresses beauty in a different pattern. Sometimes I get the impression that you feel that you're expected to feel a certain way, that you find shame in your own dreams. It's really terrible, when you think about it."_

_"Maanyu... I think my hopes and dreams are very different from yours."  
He shrugs, folding his fingers together. "I don't think you really know that."  
"I think I know what my dreams are," she retorts, yet with not a twinge of anger... only playful annoyance. He only smiles, a chuckle escaping his throat._

_"Okay, Yue, you're right."_

_She sighs, smiling in a sort of hopelessness at his handsome profile, and then turns away to follow his gaze out to the sun. Several heart beats pass, the ocean churning gently at the walls of the ice castle, bringing up to tempo the rhythm of the two's thoughts. They are silent, no words permitted in such a peaceful realm. But her lashes flutter in a question hanging in the back of her eyes, her lips parting, pushing her heart to voice the concern..._

_"Maanyu?"  
"Hm?"  
He turns to meet her eyes, charismatic serenity sparking his own, but fading slightly under the intense hesitation on her face. His brow draws low in incomprehension: he waits._

_"Maanyu, do you--" she is pushing the words out, forcing them to come. "Do you find fault in me? In my... I mean... Are you ashamed of me, for not wanting to run away with you?"_

_He can only stare for a moment, perplexed, but slowly resolution fills his eyes and he steps away from the ice-made balcony, taking her gloved hands in his own._

_"Yue, I wouldn't just run away from the North Pole. This is our home, all I could ever want. When I said that, I only meant... I meant there were complications I would like to escape, if not forever, then just for a while. And everyone feels that way at some point; there isn't a human who's walked this earth that hasn't wanted more of something, or less. And no, Yue, I could never, ever in my life be ashamed of anything you feel. Like you said, maybe I don't really know what you hope and dream for."  
She looks relived, cheered, and saddened all at once._

_"Thank you... I'm sorry for asking. You would think I would know you well enough by now..."  
He shakes his head, letting the comment fly past. "We've still got lifetimes to go. You're not supposed to know me well in just thirteen years. Now is when you're supposed to be wondering who in the world I am."  
She chuckles, charmed as always by his lighthearted expectations. She lets her hands drift from his as he turns back to the balcony, watching him. He sighs and sets his hands on the railing, listening to the hiss of the waves. It is like time has frozen: the sun hasn't seemed to have sunk any deeper behind the waves, as if waiting for the opportune moment when all stars would be perfectly aligned, ready to take their place in the sky as night officially fell. _

_"You know, Yue... I always thought I would be the one who would hesitate, hold back, feel better off here, while you went and sailed the world like a master."_

_  
She smiles. "Really?"_

_He lifts an eyebrow in amusement, nodding out at the horizon. "Really."_

_She chuckles, coming up to rest a hand on his shoulder._

_"Maybe that's how it will turn out. Maybe we're not supposed to leave now-- maybe in the future, we will change."_

_  
"I'm sure we will," he says heavily, catching her gaze over the furry hood on his shoulders._

_"But however we change, wherever we go..." Yue takes his hand in her own, smiling radiantly._

_"...Let's always stay together."_

_  
He smiles, squeezing her fingers clasped in his own._

_"Definitely. Who would I be to travel the world without you?_

_She giggles, brushing a thick lock of chocolate hair from his brow so she can look in his eyes directly._

_"Someone foolish. But..."_

_  
She takes her place beside him, her eyes back out over the water..._

_"...Let's not leave yet. Not for a long time, until all responsibility has been lifted and we're truly free. Okay?"_

_  
He feels his heart swell for the home he loves-- he would never leave the North Pole now, not for anything..._

_"Yeah. It'll take quite a long time for this place to stop being our home."_

"Sixteen? But last week it was only fourteen--"

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't make the prices, I'm just an employee--"

"All right, whatever, just give me the two dozen..."

Maanyu groaned, chuckling, rolling over onto his back and draping an arm over his eyes. The city's sounds leaked in through his window so crisp and purely it was as if he stood on the sand at the very moment. He allowed himself one last blissful second just lying in bed, and then shoved himself from the blankets onto the stone ground. He had fallen asleep in his clothing-- moccasins, tunic, everything. Last night... oh, yes. Now he remembered. The confrontation with the Dai Li, the blue draconic face bright in the night...

Katara's voice, the pain in the back of his head...

He shoved the thoughts away, walking to the end of the room towards the mirror, wiping sleep from his eyes. Beside the mirror, a basin of ready cold water seemed to have been filled and placed there for this very moment. Plunging his hands into the water, he didn't bother to bend, but splashed manually handfuls onto his face. It stung him, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut, but he continued until it seemed he was fully jolted awake.

Reaching blindly to the side, squeezing water from his eyes, he grabbed the nearest cloth and began to bring it to his face--

He made a sound of shock and disgust, recoiling, as a slimy, sticky substance made contact with his fingers. He blinked his eyes open, his senses awake, staring at the cloth he had quickly dispatched from his grasp. It lay crumpled, and as he looked closer...

It was covered in what looked like a golden mud, some kind of jelly-like mess, opaque and odorless, yet the moment it had touched his skin, he had felt the most dramatic surge of...

...what?

What had he felt? Feeling foolish, he forced himself to pick it up again. It was just some kind of... Well, whatever it was, it was washable, there was no reason to be afraid of it. He was being stupid.

And yet, as he took it in his hands again, the blast of some strength shuddered up his arm like an electric jolt-- he dropped it again, almost recoiling but this time restraining himself. The feeling spread throughout him like aftershocks, pulsing to stay alive, causing a burning desire to waterbend erupt in every fiber of his being. He felt refurbished, strengthened, upgraded it seemed. As if some addition of powerful chi had just been dispatched in his blood, burning to be used. The feeling was so overpowering, so unexpected, that he cursed under his breath in his surprise, wishing the sensation to fade and fade quickly, trying to blink himself back to reality...

_"Pathik, you dotty old monkey... Must you insist on slopping that mush _everywhere_ you go?"_

A voice erupted inside his head, so utterly cold and bottomlessly deep, echoing through the chambers of his senses like a blast of icy wind. He froze, too stunned or perhaps to horrified to speak, listening, feeling the wires of his sanity slowly being plucked at. What...?!

_  
"Hmph! Met'inks you could use a taste of dis, Great Face-Stealer, and den at least you would respect it's power."_

The second voice was light, clipped heavily with accent... The first voice returned, blotting out the warmth of the second like a scream drowning a whisper.

_  
"Oh, indeed, please, I'll take a quart," _the voice drawled, fluent in sarcasm. _"Honestly, baboon, have you nothing better to do? You're only lucky I haven't the right to--"_

_  
"My many-legged friend, it is wid' great seriousness dat I tell you: v'one swig of dis 'mush', and de many faces you have so cruelly plundered would soar straight from your belly like a swarm of--"_

_"Yes, yes, I see, the mystic powers of bananas and onions; truly, Pathik, you have me _riveted_--"_

_"All right you two, enough bickering."_

His heart caught in his throat-- Maanyu thought for sure he was dreaming-- he would be wake any moment now, gaping at the dark ceiling--

Yue's sigh was just as he had always remembered it, just as he had longed to hear again every day he had left...

_"Very well, Moon," _the first ominous voice droned slyly,_ "however I find it somewhat an obstacle that while I strive to fulfill the duty you gave me, I am faced with the task of stepping around our charming ape's butterfingery messes..."_

_  
"Hmph! " _the second voice retorted. "_Messes! Ven was de last time you took a good look at your lair, Face-Stealer?"_

_  
"Only because I don't bother with maintenance for a few centuries-- I'm not one for wallpaper, if you really don't know--"_

_"Koh, Pathik, please return to your duties. It is time-- Maanyu must know the truth."_

_"Of course, Moon. Though I beg you, on behalf of the baboon-- do not bring him here. Spirits forbid we should have the poor boy walk in on such _poor maintenance_--"_

_"Hmph! Be gone wid you and your many smirky lipsies!"_

The chuckle was as deep as the dread that weighed Maanyu's stomach, echoing away into some distant world unseen...

_"Maanyu? Can you see me?"_

Yue's voice warmed the blood which the first had frozen over, drifting through him like an antidote...

"Yue...?"

_"Look at me, Maanyu. You know where to find me."_

_  
_He turned his gaze cautiously, slowly, directly into the mirror before him--

Yue stared with a cheerful sadness into his eyes, the swirling waves of an ocean and the bleeding colors of the sunrise rushing on a horizon behind her.

He could only stare, surprised his heart was still beating. Her face, her eyes, her lips-- everything! Oh, Yue: she was here, somehow, she had come to him, she had realized-- She was here-- Why had he left? Why? He saw it now, gazing into her face after four years, how utterly stupid he had been-- How could he have left such radiance, such beauty, left it for a dream, a shame, he wanted completed, gone? What, in this moment, was more valuable, more important than the look in her eyes? Nothing. He wanted her close, wanted to breathe her in again, wanted to touch her again...

"Yue... How...?"

"Maanyu, I must tell you one thing, before all others," she whispered, and the sorrow in her voice was new, something he had never heard before. He nearly choked on his words.

"Yue, you're-- you're here, you--! How did you find me? I-- I thought you would never leave the North Pole, what--?"

"Maanyu, you must forgive me. Please. I never had the courage to leave-- I never could. I stayed, Maanyu, I stayed until..."

She trailed off, and he thought he saw tears in her magnificent eyes...

"Stayed? Until? Yue, what do you mean?"

She met his gaze at last, and some new power, some long, lost dread he had buried seemed to rise from it's place and take his heart again.

"Maanyu, I am no longer Princess Yue. I am the Moon Spirit."

He felt his throat close, felt his heart slow until it seemed it wasn't beating at all.

"You mean..."

He couldn't say it. He couldn't accept it. She wasn't-- she hadn't-- he would know--

"When?" he whispered, feeling the despair seem to clog his thoughts. All realization was spilling atop him, threatening to drown him.

"Weeks ago. I had but one choice, Maanyu, please try to understand--"

"But you're dead!" He had to say it, had to finally make himself believe it. She stared at him in purest sorrow: he knew it was true, he knew...

He was hardly aware of the tears that streamed his cheeks, all the memory that seemed to drown out his thoughts... He could only stare at her, wishing none of it was real, wishing more than ever that he was just dreaming...

"Maanyu. I'm so sorry." Her eyes sparkled as well but he knew not with tears. She would not shed tears, not strong-spirited Yue. He tried to force his own back but it was almost involuntary that they fell, pulsed by another accord.

"I've come to tell you..." Yue swallowed, meeting his gaze with a firmness that demanded his fullest attention, his strongest heart. He tried his best to abide her.

"Something has happened, Maanyu, many years ago however incredibly powerful. You carry abilities, special abilities, that are the results of one thing-- There is a connection, my friend, between--"

_Maanyu. The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai. _

_Find the firebenders._

Something inside Maanyu's mind washed out any sound of Yue's voice-- there was only the command, it's drawling voice... He knew that voice, wanted nothing more than to serve it. It was his to obey, and he would die obeying it if he had to...

He looked back blindly to Yue's face, but there was nothing there, only darkness. Maanyu struggled to remain upright-- something was pulling at his legs, forcing him to move. He surrendered to it, letting his mind close, following where this new command would take him.

"_Maanyu, no! "_

_"Moon! Step back! You can't save him-- he's already gone. Maanyu, resist, resist them!"_

But the cold, deep voice was right.

-----------

Zuko stumbled past Iroh, falling onto the bed in a heap of exhaustion. Behind him, the sounds of Iroh panting were like a distant lifetime. His steps were heavy through the kitchen, echoing like a lost conversation...

"What happened?" Zuko panted, and he meant everything that had ever happened. Everything was a jumble of facts, of flashing memories that were almost unbelievable. He felt overwhelmed by the number of faces that plagued his mind-- rocks... falling rocks...

Iroh was replying, but he didn't hear him. Something was boiling down in his gut that he knew was something new-- it was hot, stinging, insistent. It overtook his mind, demanding his attention. It sickened him, burning hotter and hotter against his mind...

He leaned over the side of the bed and vomited, disgusted by it's urgency. And yet it pounded still on his ears, his fingers, his eyes... He tried to fight it, but it was like a blinding red haze descended to clog any other thought--

"Zuko? Zuko! Zuko, what's wrong-- speak to me, Zuko, easy now--"

His head hit something soft... He blinked, scraping the edges of his sight. Iroh's blurry figure appeared above him, worry written over his aging features...

"Uncle-- someone's-- someone's coming--"

Even now, he could hear rushing steps just outside the room of his mind, a hand closing on the door to his senses...

_"You're a firebender, aren't you?" _said a hauntingly familiar voice. It strode through his head, blasting pain throughout him--

_"Go on. Firebend. They'll come after you, and finally Ba Sing Se will be safe. Firebend now!"_

"No--" Zuko's face contorted in effort-- his fists clenched, forbidding flame to rise at his fingers--

"I won't-- I'm not--"

_"Do it!"_

There was a bang from the end of the room. Iroh leapt in shock, spinning from Zuko's body--

Maanyu stood in the doorway, eyes blank as if drained of life, a whip of water pulsing at his brandished fists.

"The Dai Li will break you," he said robotically, as if words were being written upon his tongue. "They will find you and you will at last be revealed."

Iroh's heart seemed to have stopped-- The glare in Maanyu's eyes was like nothing he had ever seen, some artificial anger that actually wasn't his... Iroh struggled to understand, remembering the boy-- Jet, yes that was his name-- who had confronted them for the same reason. But even then, the situation had seemed real enough to cope with. Now...

_"Iroh, you must stop this!" _ hissed a voice in his head, deeper and colder than a thousand oceans of ice... He recognized it instantly, clinging to it as a scrap of sanity.

_"Maanyu and Zuko must not face eachother-- the Clash will not hold! She will certainly die if they are severed-- Do not let their binding break!"_

"Uncle, stand aside."

Zuko was standing at the foot of the bed, fully present and healthy, his gaze like the forbidding night. Iroh leapt back in shock as suddenly a bundle of icicles shot from nowhere-- they shattered in midair against a blast of fire. Maanyu's growl echoed on the edges of his attacks-- he whirled at Zuko, and suddenly all the answers seemed to crash in the onslaught of the two elements-- Fire and water flashed before Iroh's eyes, the cries of two voices he knew, one he loved, the other he thought he had trusted-- He leapt forward to intervene, to stop them--

"No! Zuko, you can't fight him!"

"Stay out of this, Uncle!"

A blast of fire erupted at his feet, forcing him back. How strange that it did-- He tried to lunge forward again but something penetrated his offense, forcing him back.

A great, giant serpent at least Zuko's height loomed before him. He saw straight through it's belly to the battle before him-- it was made entirely of water, looming over him and hissing furiously. He looked up into it's glaring, empty eyes and felt dread clutch his heart.

No. No. No... they can't! I have to stop them!

He leapt to his feet, attempting to thwart the serpent's gaze, but it struck him, hard, forcing him back. He felt no pain, only the stinging ice of the opposite element. As much as he overlooked it, he was a firebender, and water conflicted with his abilities just like any two opposing elements. He tried again, desperate, but the serpent was insistent. He could not avoid it's stare.

"You've been a firebender all along, then!" Maanyu shouted over the battle. "The Dai Li will not stand for this. You'll be banished, just like all the other traitors who've tried to penetrate peace, to destroy it. You're treacherous!"

Iroh watched in horror-- Maanyu was perhaps one of the most brilliant with his element he had ever seen. His skills were superior, every move he made reflected exceptional training. Zuko was holding out, but only by the spark of anger that fueled his attacks. Iroh had never seen such grace in waterbending used for such a destructive purpose-- and yet, it all seemed to fold together in one battle of mastery. The attacks rang- harmonic discord climbed the walls like a plague.

Iroh could do nothing.

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**A/N**: Finally! Maanyu vs. Zuko, at last. (We all knew it was coming...) Thanks for reading guys, please review!!


	28. Chapter 28: Finale: Part 1

Finale- part 1

28

**A/N**: ok, this is Part 1 of the Fic Finale. I wanna get the sequel out before Avatar: Season 3: Fire beats me (in other words, September 21) but... i doubt that's gonna happen, with school starting and other stuff i'm writing... so i'm nervous i'll get "intimidated" by the contradicting episodes/chapters, but hey, this is a fanfic so i really shouldn't sweat it. Hope you guys like it, i love reviews!!

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Katara brought up the rear, half-pushing Kaz and Yurgo along as they slowed to stare nervously at the unconscious Dai Li. It was strange: they had dueled far less than had swarmed them... perhaps some had escaped. They would have to keep their eyes wide open.

Sokka lead with Aang at his side, Tyc and Toph right behind as lookouts for approaching Dai Li. All around them, the tunnels of the underground headquarters seemed to breathe down on them. The green lights threw fuzzy images into their eyes; they stumbled, disoriented, but were able to catch their step soon after. They ran as they never had before, all in a desperate attempt to get out, to somehow get to the Earth King and warn him of this treachery...

Rumbles sounded deep in the walls-- they had indeed run into a few Dai Li agents who were attempting to burrow them out, but they were all lying unconscious now-- Tyc and Toph had taken them out without so much as a blink. Despite their situation, Katara couldn't help feeling amusement at the two earthbenders' relationship: Toph despised him still, and yet something had formed between them, a sort of firm alliance, no matter what tension lay there in the way. Katara could understand part of Toph's feelings: she had never met another earthbender with her skill, an equal, let alone one who was also blind. Perhaps the skill part wasn't as appealing, but the blindness... Katara could see a true friendship forming between them, deeper and more real than anything Katara could have attempted. Empathy, equality, relation... they were powerful tools to forging a bond.

The rumbles were increasing, and yet they didn't seem to be getting louder. In fact... it was as if they were fading away, dying thunder in a passing storm. Katara managed to catch a glimpse of Toph's turned profile-- her nostrils were spiked in confusion, her brow drawn tight in a glare of suspicion.

"Toph, what's wrong?" she attempted, speaking firmly through her panting.

"LOOK OUT!"

Toph threw herself to the right, out of ranks of their small band, lifting up a giant wall of earth before her as she did. Behind it, something shattered like an explosion-- clouds of dust billowed from over and around Toph's wall, like fingers clamoring around a doorway. Toph's wall shrunk back into the earth, and when the dust was sucked away with the flick of her wrist, there stood the Dai Li agent, poised for another attack.

Two more agents had apparently appeared to their left-- everything was happening so fast, it wasn't a wonder why no one had moved but Tyc and Toph. As Katara fumbled to force her mind into gear, she realized just how vital two earthbenders could be in a situation. She silently thanked their presence, and drew out her water whip.

But by then, Tyc had thrown the other two agents half a mile down the long, circular hallways on a block of stone, and Toph had rocketed her agent straight into the ceiling like he had been launched out of a geyser.

"Go!" Tyc shouted to the others, paralyzed in shock, and Katara shoved firmly on Kaz's back, urging her forward. She kept her whip out, pulling it behind her like a sword. She was sure they'd have use for it the longer they kept this up... They took off at full speed, Tyc and Toph now on either side of the group, glares and fists brandished, their pounding steps as alert as one's could be.

"Are there more of them?" Sokka yelled over the commotion.

"Not yet!" Toph shouted back, her head spinning as if her ears were eyes sweeping all around her.

"Get to the opened cell as fast as you can!" Tyc shouted, stopping suddenly in his tracks.

"What do you think you're doing?" Toph demanded furiously, jerking to a stop herself. Everyone else skidded to a halt as well, turning, stunned towards the two smallest of their number.

"I have to make sure no one's following us!" Tyc responded, looking strangely fierce in his stance, being one so small.

"And you think you can take them out all by yourself?" Toph shouted, fists on her hips, cheeks flushed in anger. "You think you're so great, huh?"  
"No!" Tyc retorted, turning away. "Get them to the cell! I'll catch up with you guys!"

And he set off at a run, leaving their jaws slack, Toph's furious breathing like the pants and puffs of a dragon.

"Wait up, Music Man!" she barked, and started after him at full speed. As they faded down the hall, Katara and the others stared dumbly after them, until at last Katara blinked, waving her arms over them.

"C'mon, let's go! They'll be fine!"  
"What does he think he's doing, abandoning us like this?" Kaz demanded, jumping forward to keep up with Yurgo as they set off without her.

"He's Tyc!" Yurgo said back. "What did you expect?"  
"I'm gonna kill her if we're attacked by surprise!" Sokka bellowed angrily, he now behind Aang, who lead.

"Stay close behind me!" Aang yelled to them over his shoulder. They huddled closer as they ran, all a bundle behind Aang's back. He brandished his staff before his chest, a firm stance even in movement.

They ran for minutes more, Sokka shouting directions to a confused Aang, until at last they reached the large, open doors of Appa's cell.

"In there!" Sokka shoved Aang in the shoulder, steering him left as he bypassed it by a glance. They clamored through the open door, coming to an abrupt halt below the large, gaping hole in the ceiling. The voices of people wafted down from the outside world, their sillouhettes bent over the hole in shock. The voices of earth kingdom officers were also heard above the others, attempting to hush the people away from the hole.

"Aang!" Sokka began, but Aang was ahead of him. He raised his staff, twirling it high above his head. A great, swirling bubble of air encircled them all, licking at the ends of their clothing. Aang shot his staff upward like a spear and they all were launched up into the air, towards the bright morning sky--

They broke through to the free air, the cries of people like songs on the wind--

Chains. They flew from nowhere, seizing every limb, every joint visible. Katara felt her wrists and ankles shriek in the harsh jerks of the metal that clasped them-- she fought them in midair, for the fraction of a second she could, before Aang's captured hands ended the bending and they all fell onto the dirt path, crumpled, bondage to the thick, black chains.

She could hear Sokka and the others cry out in surprise, in effort, Kaz swearing onlookers' ears off, the clanking and chiming off wracked metal... But it was no use. She coughed dust from her eyes and mouth, trying to slip her captured elbow from under her back... She had landed on her chest, her head turned to the side. Her forehead rang in a definitive throb--

"Well, well, this is strange. I remember there being more of them."

The drawling voice loomed invisible over their heaped, bound bodies-- Katara managed to force her gaze up towards the morning sun, squinting into the bowed face of a Dai Li agent. Unlike the others in their stone-like countenance, he was smirking, as if some trance that abided for the others did not abide for him. He squatted beside Sokka, shoving his chin up so he could study his face.

"Eaahh- Let go of me!"

Sokka wrenched his head to the side, squirming ridiculously, only to the agent's amusement. He rose back to his feet, turning to a companion.

"Get Jeisuke and load them up. I think the Earth King will find interest in this..."

"Yes, sir."  
The second agent spun on his heel, setting off into the crowd. Katara could make it all out now: commoners stood five feet or so back, stunned, clutching eachother as if they had just witnessed the sleighing of a ferocious beast. They stared at Katara and the others with such a profound fear that Katara almost spoke frantic comfort to them.

But then she realized they were not on her side.

"Everyone move back... that's it, now... The situation's under control... Please return to your homes. Go on..."  
The Dai Li hushed them back with discreet hands, fleeting glances of suspicion, striking down with a piercing glare anyone who remained erect to watch the capture. The people faded slowly, stubbornly, gawking at the captives as if they were holding them under mind-control. Katara struggled futilely against her bonds, gritting her teeth in rising anger. Swishing walls of green encircled them: the ends of Dai Li robes, all gathering to create a sort of fortress. Finally, the only thing she could see was the dark emerald tresses of their dress. Her neck ached too badly and she was in the wrong position to look up at the sky... She adjusted the twisted angle of her arm, anger growing hotter and hotter inside her, despair creeping into her chest... She panted, desperate, trying to glare her way magically out of the bonds...

"You kids have certainly got the meaning of trouble," an agent said. It was the same that had ordered they be 'loaded up' (Katara recalled with disgust). His smooth, shaven face was stoic but for the hint of a smirk still pressed on his lips, and as hands bent to handle them, he ran his own slender fingers over his chin. Katara felt harsh grips on her arms, wincing as she was lifted to sitting position and eventually into an agent's arms like a rag doll. She grimaced against the agent's chest, glaring up fiercely into his face, however he remained expressionless as ever. Against her awareness, she w as dumped on something hard--

They were tossed into a large, metal crate: obviously the Dai Li were assuming some of them were earthbenders. It wasn't large enough to fit all of them, yet that seemed to be the last thing the Dai Li were worried about. Katara managed to squirm from under Sokka's groaning body, over Aang's crumpled figure, seeing Kaz and Yurgo huddle close together at the opposite end, all their knees twisting together in the compacted area. She scraped with her bound wrists at the metal walls of the crate, kneeing her way over Sokka's gut, trying to force herself to her feet.

"Ow-- Katara-- Ow!"

"Sorry, Sokka-- No!"

Darkness fell: the top door of the crate slammed shut. Katara threw her fists against the wall in her anger, but losing her balance as a result-- she tumbled elbows first into Aang.

"Ow!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Aang--" She struggled back to her knees, glaring up at the crate.

"I can't believe it! I thought we had wiped them all out!"  
"You didn't notice about half of them escaped?" Sokka groaned, looking hopeless. "And what did you expect, anyway? This was bound to come any time-- what, do you think they're going to let us break into their headquarters, beat them all up, encase their leader in ice, and then just let it slip like it never happened? Say 'hi' to us in the streets like casual human beings?"  
"All right, all right!" Katara pouted, folding her arms.

"I'm just a little frustrated, that's all."

"We all are," Aang said, sounding desperate. "We can't let them put us in a bad light like this. The Earth King has to know the truth-- whatever happens, don't let the Dai Li speak. Agreed?"  
"With pleasure," Kaz grumbled, glaring. "I'll tell that Earth King a thing or two about his little pets..."

"They're not his," Katara said woefully, her chin sinking behind her knees, "he's theirs. Can't you see they're just playing at him to get more power? It's so obvious, even with the little information we have."

"I bet they have a whole lie planned out against us," Sokka said bitterly.

"Or they can just take the small facts and magnify them, making them look like something they aren't," Yurgo put in, face white and sunken in despair and exhaustion. Katara saw Kaz huddle closer to him, clutching his arm like a life line.

"We'll figure something out," she said, trying just as hard herself to believe it as they were.

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Tyc slid around the corner, Toph hot at his heels, the two of them pushing silently around every corner they could find. So far, no remaining Dai Li had been spotted. In Tyc's mind, this flashed as good news. But there was one point he had overlooked, that Toph was ecstatic to throw in his face.

"Don't you realize something?" she hissed in whisper. "This could mean they're all above ground, waiting to ambush the others!"

"Why would they be?" Tyc whispered back, they still moving in unison. "We would have felt them."

"These walls are _metal_, we can't read through them!" Toph snarled.

Dread struck his heart, and for a moment he was paralyzed, staring at the hallway before them.

"Come on!" Toph hissed, snagging his sleeve and jerking him backwards, back towards the halls they had come from.

"Wait-- we--"

"Tyc, you listen to me, I'm not gonna let them get captured!"  
"We don't know that for sure!"

"Are you kidding? I can _feel _ you panicking!"

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The cart rolled on-- it seemed like eternity after eternity was passing, all with the rumbling of rickety wheels, the tight, limited space of the crate... The muffled sounds of Dai Li agents speaking to eachother would seep through the metal at times, reminding Katara she was alive, in this world, and not lost in the theuroes of a nightmare. She would have chosen the nightmare over all of this-- then again, was there a difference?  
She closed her eyes, leaning her head against the crate wall and just trying to lift her hopes, her spirit... One thing she knew: they were going to the Earth King. Perhaps, if they tried hard enough, they could clear up this whole mess, reveal the true villains.

She thought of Jet, Kioki, the frozen Long Feng... What had Jet said about Kioki? There were wounds that Katara could not heal? She let her mind wonder, anything to distract her from their despairing predicament... She had seen Jet's face, some perfect horror behind his eyes, trauma, pain... What had happened? The more she tried to think of it, the easier it became, until soon it was nagging her for every last moment of their journey, threatening to obsess her. She did not remember Jet ever straying inches from Kioki's side, kneeling above her like a predator over his prey, except this was in protection. Katara had watched him guard her from some invisible force, a storm long passed yet it's wrath lingered still in the air.

She shuddered. So many things were possible...

The crate jerked, forcing her head against the metal wall. Rubbing it, she glared up at the trap door, but it did not open. The crate rocked suddenly, as if it rode the waves of the sea, and she bounced for a moment from Sokka and Aang's shoulders. Their jumbling stopped when the crate was settled: Katara concluded they had been lifted from the cart... They must be at the palace.

She held, unaware, to Sokka's shoulder as the crate wobbled again-- the voices seeped through the metal a second time, distant moans that were actually words... deciding their fate? She felt anger boil inside her-- it wasn't going to end like this, it just wasn't. They'd worked so hard and come all this way to help the Earth Kingdom-- they weren't going to become the bad guys.

Light. It spilled onto her eyes almost painfully-- she blinked, Kaz and Yurgo blurring before her for a moment, and then she looked up at the trap door. It was open, and a huge, grand ceiling spilled out before them like a painted sky. For a minute, the awe was enough to distract her anger, but then the sillouhette of a Dai Li agent sliced through the bright light, casting a triangular shadow down on them. Katara grimaced, but there was nothing she could do.

A hand reached down and seized her forearm-- She heard Sokka growl something, felt pain course through her arm as the agent pulled her to her chained feet. The metal clamps squeezed painfully at her wrists-- she scowled at the agent as he managed to pull her from the crate and set her in the hands of another. She stood with the second's hands clamped tightly on her shoulders, though she was unable to move if she wanted to because of the chains. She watched Sokka come next, then Aang, and then Yurgo and Kaz, Kaz clutching Yurgo so tightly it wasn't likely they were going to pry them apart and lift them up separately. Their chains had even tangled together. The first agent sighed in annoyance and shoved them to a companion who caught them before they could fall.

Katara stared in half awe, half fear at where they were.

The Earth King's throne room. It was massive, carpeted in exuberant designs of white, gold, and green, massive pillars lining the entrance pathway, magnificent drapes of emerald and olive streamed about them like an embrace. The room glittered before them, so large and majestic that Katara lost her balance staring up into the domed ceiling. Her eyes strayed down across the painted walls, over the coats of Earth Kingdom arms hung proudly in display, to the grand throne atop an elevated platform. The throne itself was something to behold, yet the man who sat within it struck Katara's amazement. When she had pictured the Earth King in her mind, she had seen a powerful man, bearded, strong and sharp like his kingdom's element. She pictured armor across his broad, muscular chest, a valiant gladiator placed to rule his people as an icon, leading the bold, proud tradition of earthbending.

But the Earth King that sat at the far end of the hall was not that Earth King. Instead of armored, the man was bejeweled, robed in the finest of silk like a delicately crafted porcelain doll. He was tall man, thin, well-shaven and quite young for a such a powerful ruler. (Or so he thought he was). His facial structure was acute, angular, drawing to a slim point in his chin, which he caressed in gentle, slender fingers. The tiny spectacles placed at the tip of a sharp nose were much too small for his hazel eyes, sparked with a thoughtful eagerness for knowledge, yet sharpened by a definite sense of command... clouded by a considerate man's weakness for trust. He truly was a ruler, and yet from the pensive posture and the somewhat dazed harshness of his eyes, he appeared more as an absorbed scholar far too young for his brilliance.

He didn't know. It stung Katara, knowing this man who obviously had great intellectual background, had no idea of the Dai Li's conspiracy or the war itself. He thought _they_ were the enemy. Even now, as his gaze fell sternly across them, a frown blackening his otherwise neighborly face, she knew what he knew, what he thought. The Avatar was his enemy: something had gone wrong, and the Avatar was to blame.

No. No, we can't let it happen!

Something shoved her harshly in the shoulder and she tried her best to walk forward, half-guided by the agent at her back. She glanced at her companions-- they too were being roughly escorted, all of them wearing expressions ranging from fear and confusion to anger and determination.

She fixated her own determined glare on the king now, but then realized what the mistake it was, and softened her features. She had to appear innocent, cooperative no matter how she felt towards the issue.

"Who are these kids?" the king demanded, and his voice only more contradicted his image as a ruler of earth. Light and young with a taste of ignorance. Katara felt despair creep at her gut-- he would be hard to sway from his pets, the Dai Li.

"They are criminals, your Majesty," the agent securing Sokka said. "They have rioted in our city against the Dai Li, against the peace we hold dear--"

"That's not true!" Sokka bellowed, but the King raised a hand.

"Do not speak out of turn," he warned, eyes narrowing into Sokka's skull.

"But you can't listen to them!" Kaz begged, lunging forward, but was stopped by the grip of an agent. "They're lying!"

"Silence!" The King shoved a finger at her. "I will hear what the Dai Li captain has to say!"

"Let them speak, guys," Aang said softly, and Katara turned to him in shock. "It'll be okay. We'll get our chance."  
Katara wanted to retort, her heart bursting to counter every word the Dai Li said, but then she fell silent, knowing either way, the agents would get their story out.

"Now," The King said, looking calm, "please, captain, tell me what this is all about. What issue is so important that it must address me?"  
"As I said, Your Majesty," the agent drawled on, "these kids are the source of a dangerous uprising in the city. They have destroyed a stone courtyard, broken into the city's underground vaults, and have set a dangerous beast lose into the skies."  
"Nnn---No!" Sokka burst as if he could not contain himself. "We didn't--!"  
"You deny it?" the agent chuckled before the King could speak. "That's all right. Your Majesty, if you will accept it, we have evidence of this plunder we would like to present as a testimonial."

"Bring it in," the King commanded shortly, folding his fingers under his nose and watching with steely eyes.

The agent nodded to his companions at his back, who turned and made their way down the hall, back to the cart. Katara felt her agent's grip tighten as she shifted her weight-- she aimed a glare up into his eyes but her neck ached too badly, and her head fell back down as if lifeless.

Moments later, five agents returned, holding across their arms like a giant serpent a shattered chain. The links were three times their regular size, that much thicker too, almost ridiculous in their weildy appearance. At the end, supported by an agent's hands like a delicate antique, was one half of a split clamp. Just by it's size, Katara could tell it's full piece would span the circumference of Appa's ankle. She drew in a short breath of shock-- it was the wrong thing to do.

"This had restrained the monster earlier. The children broke through it and set it free." The captain glanced smugly at the Earth King.  
"Appa's not a monster!" Aang snarled.

"Appa?" The king repeated.

"You see, Your Highness," the captain said quickly, "they know the beast, they've set it lose to destroy our city, harass our people!"

At this, Aang lunged as if he were about to speak, but then he drew back, biting his lip, fury burning hotter than Katara had ever seen it in the back of his eyes.

"Bring the chain to me," the king said, and when they had, he ran slim fingers over the clamp's severed edge.

"Hmmm..." He glared down at it thoughtfully, then back at Katara and the others.

"These children broke a chain of this strength? It seems hard to believe."  
"I assure you, Your Majesty," the agent said calmly, bowing, "we caught the children leaving the beast's cell. Mind you, these are only some of the kids. They had others with them, Your Highness, young earthbenders, and another with two swords. They could have easily found means to break it. How else would the beast have been freed? It was being detained by us under the tightest of constraints for the protection of our people, as you commanded any loose animal be."  
"So I did..." the king mused, caressing his chin again. "Are those the only charges?"  
"No, sir," the agent said, and it seemed victory had entered his tone. He stepped back from the throne, waving the others with the chain back further.

"These dangerous kids have killed our commander and your most trusted advisor, Long Feng."

"WHAT?!" Sokka screeched, accompanied by Katara's gasp, Aang's deliberate "NO!", and Kaz and Yurgo's harsh curses.

"We didn't kill him!" Kaz bellowed. "We're kids! We don't kill people! That's the biggest lie I've ever--"

"Silence!" The king had jumped to his feet now, and some hidden power had built behind him that Katara had not seen. Even still, she was appalled, and loathe that the Dai Li would make up such a story. They would never, _ever_ kill _anyone_...

"Your Majesty, you _can't_ believe them!" Katara shouted, desperate. "We would _never_--!"  
"I said _silence_!" he snapped, and she obeyed reluctantly. He made a cutting motion with his arm, illustrating his command, and glared at them all.

"Now. I want the truth from you. If you have murdered my advisor Long Feng, you will face the most severe of punishment in return! You claim you have not, and so I will accept your claims; _however, _if you did not kill him, where is he now?"

They hesitated. A mistake.

"You see?" The Dai Li captain said fiercely, "they lie to you! They deny their crimes, and when it comes to--"  
"Your Majesty," Aang interrupted firmly, more seriously than Katara had ever heard him, "you _have_ to believe us. We did _not_ kill Long Feng-- you can't take us for criminals and killers just because someone claims we are, when there's no proof at all! I don't think _you_ believe we killed him!"  
"There are many contradicting facts," The king said icily. "But I tell you all now, guilty or not, you have gained little favor in this fight!"

"But Aang is the Avatar!" Katara persisted furiously. "The Avatar's mission is to bring peace, not to _kill_ people!"

"The Avatar?" The Earth King's glare did not soften but his eyes flickered with a moment of consideration.

"It is worthy evidence for your side," he said heavily, "but I'm afraid it can't cover for anything. What did you say, captain? They destroyed a stone courtyard?"  
"Yes, sir, and half of the underground vaults of our city."

"That was only because--" Sokka began, but the Earth King glared and he fell silent.

"You do not deny these crimes?" he asked reasonably.

There was a moment of quiet, and then Aang said,

"No. We don't. But we broke into the underground vaults to save my bison, Appa. The Dai Li were holding him prisoner!"

"Lies, sir!" the captain said instantly. "Never have we stolen a bison from the Avatar. Do not be mislead by these _delinquents_!"

But there was no time to respond: a sudden bang erupted down the royal hall as if half of it had just collapsed. Stunned, all eyes in the room jumped back towards the entrance door, flung completely open by a sudden force.

A Dai Li agent, drenched in blood, fell nigh lifelessly to the ground, moaning.

Several agents jumped to his aid, Katara, in her shock, steeling a glance at the Earth King. He stared at the dying agent in not repulsion or fear but sadness: as if he had just lost his dearest friend, as if his first child had been brought to him, dead.

The agent was lifted into the arms of the others. He looked truly terrible-- deep gashes were in his sides, across his chest and face: his robe was deep maroon, died by all the blood that seemed to gush freely of it's own accord. His face was scarred, bruised, as if he had just emerged from the rubble of an earthquake, or had escaped from a vicious beating. Horror settled in silence over the room as the battered, broken agent was brought before the king.

"What is this?" the captain exclaimed, outraged, blanching at the sight of the man's condition.

"What... happened?" The king whispered, nigh faint, lifting a hand as if to touch the man's scarlet face, but then drawing back in despair.

The man's eyes, caked in blood, fluttered weakly, trying to make out his surroundings. His cut, swollen lips moved to speak, but only a low moan was audible.

"Who did this?" the king asked again, growing desperate, taking the agent by the shoulders, his eyes pleading.

"Auughh... earth... ben... ders... they..."

He drew in a liquid breath, as if forcing down blood from rising in his throat.

"...just... kids... they... I saw their... they were... blind..."

At the same instant Kaz and Yurgo breathed the name 'Tyc', white with horror, Aang breathed the name 'Toph'.

And the Earth King heard them.

He whirled at them, fury burning in what had previously been rather rational eyes.

"You know who did this? Is that what this is, a little gang of yours destroying the streets, killing and maiming innocent people?"

"NO!" Aang begged, but it was too late.

"Look what you're little friends have done!" The king bellowed, motioning to the man's broken body. "If there is any evidence that you are treacherous to this city's safety, it is this!"

"No! They couldn't have!" Sokka yelled, fighting now with the agent restraining him.

"You can't believe him! He's trying to mislead you, turn you against us! They wouldn't have done this--! LET GO OF ME!"

"How dare you!" The king's hands shook his fury. "I never thought I would see such cruelty! Never before have I! You leave me the only option-- I command you to leave this city, and never return!"

"No!"Aang jerked from his own agent, trying to pry his wrists loose from the shackles.

"Your Highness, please, you can't do this! You think you're doing the right thing, but you're not! You're on the wrong side!"

"Please!" Katara wailed. "You have to believe us!"

"Don't banish us!" Kaz pleaded, sounding on the verge of tears. "Ba Sing Se is our home!"

"I cannot allow you to remain here!" The king snapped. "You are now and forever banished from the Earth Kingdom! Dai Li, escort them from the city!"

"No!" Aang whirled from the agent's outstretched hands, airbending out of his reach with his extended fingers.

"Restrain them!" The captain snapped at his men.

"We already have," an agent said cautiously.

"Then restrain them more!" the captain barked.

The surrounding twelve agents shot forth their arms, chains shooting from their sleeves like extendable arms. While Katara was frozen in shock, the sight of the maimed agent still bold before her eyes, Aang twirled, ready to attempt to bend--

Steeples of earth tore from the carpet, bursting like thunder, rocketing towards the ceiling right in the paths of the extended chains. The chains snapped from the agents' wrists, flying like severed ropes through the air. The rumbling continued, and a second set of steeples sent the twelve surrounding Dai Li flying through the air, crashing hard with the far wall. Katara felt dust sprinkle her back, the hands of the agent behind her leave her shoulders-- She spun about to see him hurled across the room by another steeple-- dust rose-- shouts from the Earth King could be heard, the pounds of lingering attacks--

"Aang! Katara!"

The voice was deafeningly familiar, and Katara's heart soared-- Toph and Tyc stood side by side, glaring past their fists brandished in earthbending.

"We gotta get out of here, now! There's more agents coming, the _cockroaches_!" Toph threw her fists outward, sending two more agents flying in opposite directions.

"Go!" Tyc shouted to them, he and Toph advancing forward in the dust.

It was a thunderstorm: the rumbling of firing earth, the rising fog, the intoxication of free-flying sand...

Katara seized Sokka's wrist, turning to the open throne room door--

Just beyond it, out in the hall, she could see Appa's gigantic arrow staring out at them--

"Aang! Appa! Let's go!"

The avatar nodded, calling the attention of the others--

It all went so fast and so furiously, but somehow they were out.

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**A/N**: Wow, that took forever. Oh, and here's a cool point: Katara's surprised reaction to the Earth King's appearance was MY reaction when i first saw him-- i was like, "He's a nerd!" hehehe;) so, yeah, hope you liked this chapter! Part two of the finale, hopefully, will be coming soon! (sorry for the delays these days... I've been inspired to write a Zutara AU, (like there aren't enough of those, but i'd like to see how i do... should i?) reviews are cookies!!!!


	29. Chapter 29: Finale: Part 2

Fic Finale- Part 2

29

**A/N**: Ok, sorry this fic has been super confusing-- i promise you'll get head on what the heck is going on with this Clash stuff. This is part 2 of the fic finale: in other words, the end! Thanx sooooo much for reading guys!! I love your reviews!!

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The wind picked up in her hair-- afternoon was arriving, throwing warmth over their anxiety, which was anything but needed. As they had lifted from the sky, riding Appa once again, Toph had uncharacteristically shrieked and grabbed Sokka's arm, terrified with the prospect of riding bareback. Tyc had done the same with Kaz, who was still figuratively chained to Yurgo. Aang sat on Appa's neck, as usual, with Sokka right behind him, staring angrily into the distant mountains.

"I can't believe we're banished!" he burst suddenly, voicing everyone's thoughts. "It's so unjust! I can't believe the king could do that to us!"

"As far as he knows, or will allow himself to know, we're guilty," Aang said. He sounded more crestfallen than any of them.

"And now our whole plan to prepare the Earth Kingdom has failed."  
"No," Katara said gently, touching Aang's shoulder. "It'll be okay. The solar eclipse is still our best bet: we'll figure something out."

Aang sighed, head low in his chest. He wasn't even steering Appa, watching where they were going... he probably didn't care.

"Yeah. Okay."

"We were lucky to get out of there alive," Sokka grumbled.

"You're welcome," Toph droned from behind.

"So where to now?" Yurgo said timidly, absent-mindedly stroking Kaz's back.

"What about Jet?" Tyc burst. "And Kioki? Don't any of you care we just left them and now we can't go back?"  
His voice was shaking-- he hiccuped and a tear slid down his face. Katara felt her heart strain and moved to drape his shoulders in one of her arms. For a moment, she hesitated, not knowing whether he would accept her offer, but as she touched his tiny arm, he turned immediately into her and buried his face in her abdomen. She held him tightly against her, stroking the hair on the back of his head.

"We gotta go back for them," he moaned from her embrace, his voice muffled, cracked by tears.

"But how?" Kaz said desperately. "They're in the Dai Li's _headquarters, _Tyc!"

"Do you think I care?" Tyc yelled suddenly, throwing himself from Katara's arms to glare at Kaz. Katara glanced urgently at Toph, but to her relief, she remained silent, her blank eyes aimed tiredly at Appa's fur.

"All right, guys, let's not fight," she said reasonably, taking Tyc's shoulder. "There are lots of loose ends, yes, but we have to decide what our most urgent priorities are. Jet and Kioki can manage at least for today-- right now, we have to focus on finding a new place to stay--"

"They're gonna get caught!" Tyc wailed, furious, hopeless. "The Dai Li are going to find them, they can't stay hidden forever! Long Feng's going to thaw out, everything's going to go wrong at some point, and we're not going to be there to help them!"

"Tyc," Katara said as gently and as patiently as she could. "You may not think I know Jet that well, but believe me, I do. I know that now Jet is someone who isn't going to let anyone he loves get hurt."

At the word 'now', Sokka snorted, "Important distinction there."

Katara grimaced at him and continued.

"He's a fighter, a real tough one. If something goes wrong, he'll be able to handle it until we get there. I trust Jet's judgment--"

She swallowed, hearing her own words--

"--and I think he's well aware of the dangers."  
"Well, I _don't_ think so!" Tyc said bitterly, turning his back on all of them. "You're all just worried about yourselves. You don't care what happens to Jet and Kioki!"

"Tyc!" Kaz snapped, glaring. "Excuse me, but we _do_ care! We just can't afford to worry about it right now! There are more important--"

"You just think they're invincible, that Jet can handle anything on his own! You think he's smarter than all those Dai Li, even Long Feng! Well, guess what, he's not! You don't know what happened to him! You didn't see-- you didn't hear him--"

It had been a storm crawling, threatening to blow, and then at last he burst into tears, burying his face in his knees and drawing his legs up to his chest.

"I sensed everything!" he sobbed. "You don't know what he did-- what happened-- He-- Jet's--"

He couldn't say it. He wept into Appa's fur, lying down and curling up below the drafts of wind that ruffled their hair.

Katara felt tears of her own sting her eyes at the sight of his grief-- What _had_ happened? She'd had her assumptions before, that something in the way Jet acted had been different, but now she knew for sure. There was something else, something she certainly didn't know about.

And by the looks of Tyc, she began feeling that she wouldn't want to know in the end.

Her sight of him was interrupted by Aang-- he walked across Appa's back, past them all, keeping his balance by airbending. Without hesitation and with a friendly yet disciplinary tenderness, he knelt before Tyc's shuddering form. Tyc whiped at his eyes with little fists, blinking and sniffing for a moment before he could turn his head to acknowledge the Avatar's presence.

Aang sold the boy a sympathetic look, and then reached into his shirt. All watched, no one concerned of where Appa was taking them, as Aang withdrew from an unseen pocket... two small, copper coins.

He opened Tyc's hand and pressed them into the boy's tiny palm, closing his fingers back over them. Tyc sniffed again, taking the coins and feeling them, swallowing tears as if preparing to speak...

But Aang did instead.

"I found the other one in the sand. I was walking by an apartments back in the city. I think it had dropped from someone's window sill. Tyc... I believe these coins represent something. Something about me, about all benders... I hold power for a reason, Tyc. To protect people, to bring peace. And with that ability, I want to give you this promise."

He leaned closer to the boy, giving his shoulder a meaningful squeeze.

"No matter what happens, Jet and Kioki will always be our first priority, and until we rescue them, I'll think of nothing else."

Tyc whiped absently at his eyes, fingers moving blindly over the coins' crevices. He angled his face to where he pictured Aang's to be, though there was no way of knowing except by hearing.

"You promise?" he whimpered.

Aang ruffled the boy's hair, but didn't smile. Instead, his face hardened in determination.

"I promise."  
Everyone was silent. They hadn't understood the exchange of the coins, but everything else had been crystalline, it was so clear. They had not expected this, as much as Katara tried to tell herself that this is what they should do. She suddenly realized her own place of fault-- she had been so concerned with their safety, with escaping from the battle alive, that she had assumed everyone felt that way-- She had assumed Aang would insist _they_ be safe before considering anyone else's safety.

She leaned forward, curious in her guilt, and touched Tyc's hand.

"Tyc... May I see the coins?"  
He nodded weakly, and opened his palm to her. She took them carefully, so as not to drop them, and studied them close to her face. The first had the symbol of earth engraven on one side, and as she turned it over, she saw the symbol of air on the other. Intrigued, yet knowing what to expect on the next, she gave the first to Kaz, who was watching eagerly, and looked at the second. On one side, she admired the familiar symbol of water, the element she was tied too, the one she seemed to love above all the others. She ran her finger over the engraven symbol, remembering the soft touch of water, the power it gave her, the grace.

She turned to coin over.

The engraven symbol of fire. So many things did it strike inside her that she was almost surprised. She thought, firstly, of the enemy. The Fire Nation, the Fire Lord, the war... everything they had been fighting. She then thought of warmth, the element itself, not it's evil rulers. She tried to push aside the terrible people who had killed her mother, had wiped out Earth Kingdom villages, and tried to realize the beauty of flame. What good it did for other people, how long it had been a part of their world. It was indeed one of the four elements, however dangerous it was, it was still a beautiful element.

A scar.

A face.

Something flashed before her mind like a wake-up call, startling her. A phrase hung in her mind, something she had thought herself...

A beautiful element.

Beautiful...

The face returned to invade her memory, and she saw...

Zuko? No, but it wasn't... Not that she had never seen him, anyway. Instead of the shaved head, long, black bangs hung in his eyes: a rugged mane of hair, much like Jet's, hugging the lobes of his ears, the sides of his face and neck. She was also surprised to see, (still wondering why in the world she was) his eyes: the familiar glare she knew so well, a face contorted in pain and determination, was gone. In it's place... subjection. A yielding, a sort of peaceful compromise that softened every feature of his face. Behind it was controlled desperation, a dark hope that was almost too good to be true. Something in his gold irises awoke a voice, one she had heard before...

The voice of the ocean. The low, tranquil hiss of receding waves, all flowing together in a brilliant pattern. How beautiful and wonderful it was! She closed her eyes, thought she smiled, watching the waves in her head churn peace into her heart. An entire ocean was spanned before her suddenly-- her spirit soared: she wanted to leap into it, be swallowing up in so much perfect water. On the horizon, a fire burned. Literal fire: there was no sun, just a strip of leaping flames all bordering this ocean, stretching forever to the edge of the earth. And it was so right. In her heart, she loved the harmony this picture created. What amazing peace, what magnificent companionship! Fire and water: she had never conceived how beautiful it looked together, how majestic... She stood, letting the water lap about her, laughing as it's coolness caressed her. The fire flowed like rivers through the ocean, pulses of flame, all towards her. She opened her arms, beaming, welcoming them too. The fire encircled her body, a forever lasting embrace that she would never part with. There it spiraled about her limbs, like dawn, an angel's smile, so warm, making her feel so complete...

"KATARA!"

She opened her eyes.

And fell.

Horror clamped her, refused to let go, blotting out her voice, any sense she could muster, it all disappeared in perfect terror. She watched Appa growing smaller and smaller, felt the cold air tear against her skin as she fell, faster and faster, her arms outstretched before her in a never-ending reach--

No, no, no, help! Help--!

Appa was growing bigger-- getting closer--

She didn't know if she was breathing-- she wouldn't be one bit surprised if her heart was completely still; she saw the bison's large head pass beneath her--

She landed on something soft, lying there in complete and utter shock and just watching the sky tremble above her. She heard breath leave her lips, felt her heart throw a tantrum against her ribcage.

"Katara!" Sokka's shrieks were much too close for their volume-- she saw his shocked face above her, then saw Aang's, then Kaz... Yurgo... Toph... Tyc...

"Katara, what was that?" Sokka demanded, horror shaping his face almost comically.

"You fell!" Aang exclaimed, looking traumatized. "You just stood up and walked off Appa!"

"What?" Her voice was hoarse, sucked of tone.

"You laughed and fell back like-- like you--" Sokka finally threw his arms up in the air, then seized her shoulders and jerked her to sitting position, and suddenly she found herself nose to nose with her elder brother.

"You are so crazy! DON'T EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!"

She blinked, trying to sigh, trying to let her blood flow again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-- I mean-- I didn't just _walk off_--"

"Yeah, you did!" Kaz said, she and Yurgo white with shock.

"It was like you were hallucinating or something," Aang said fearfully. "You were... talking to someone."  
"What?"

"Yeah, you said..." Sokka tubbed his chin, thinking, trying to gather his memory...

"'I know you've changed,'" Toph said. "That's what you said.

"Oh yeah!" Yurgo said, and Sokka nodded.

"Who were you talking to?" Aang asked.

"Pff!" Sokka was incredulous. "No one, obviously, she was just dreaming or something--"

"Where's the coin?" Katara asked suddenly. A great fear had come over her, that it had dropped somewhere into the Earth Kingdom.

Shocked silence fell.

"What?!" Sokka exclaimed, so incredulous it seemed he would burst. "You just threw yourself off of Appa and you're wondering where a little _coin_ is?!"

"We have to find that coin!" she persisted, sitting up on the bison's fur.

"It's somewhere in the Earth Kingdom now," Toph said inevitably.

"Forget about it-- it's just a coin," Kaz said.

Both Aang and Tyc moved to retort but Katara beat them both.

"No, it's not! It carries..."  
She couldn't believe what she was saying, but she soon didn't care-- Something had come over her, an immediate need to hold that coin in her fingers. She didn't know why, but in an instant, it was the most important thing on her mind.

"C'mon, Aang, let's get higher, we're toast down here," Sokka was saying, trying to blow the incident off, still white with fading terror.

"Yeah..."

"And someone keep an eye on Katara!" Sokka snapped before he and Aang made their way to Appa's head.

Katara tried to calm herself, to explain everything in her mind, but there was still something gnawing the back of her mind... It wasn't the shock of falling: no, she had gotten over that quicker than she thought. Her mind went immediately to the coin, the wondrous ocean it had awoken in her mind...

"Aang, what are you doing?" Sokka snapped.  
"I'm going higher."  
"But we're going back to the Earth Kingdom!"

"Exactly. I promised Tyc we would get Jet and Kioki, first priority."

"_Argh_!" Sokka threw up his arms again. "You guys have _no_ perception of noble and crazy!"

"Sokka, what if you were down there in the Dai Li's headquarters, with a frozen Long Feng ready to thaw out at any minute and Suki wounded near dying?"  
Sokka had opened his mouth to retort at the first two possibilities, but the instant Suki's name escaped Aang's lips, his eyes softened, and he fell silent. Rubbing his arm, he looked away, off at the city below. Aang seemed to turn red, somewhat ashamed, looking away as well.

"I'm sor--"

"No. C'mon, you're right--"

"I didn't mean t--"

"No, seriously, it's fine. Let's go get them. They need us."

Aang swallowed, rubbing the back of his neck, and then straightened at Tyc's voice:

"Yeah! Jet and Kioki, here we come!"  
Aang pulled against the reins, and the bison turned downward towards the looming city, the most dangerous place for them to be besides the Fire Nation itself.

-----------

"Wait!"

Now, hovering above the inner wall of the city, just out of eyeshot of any guards atop it, Katara's exclamation was a luxury they couldn't afford.

"Shhh!" Sokka hissed. "What is it?"  
"No one in this area of the city knows of the destroyed courtyard yet, do they?" she asked more quietly.

Aang shrugged. "I don't think so."

"But the whole city could know about our little party with the Earth King," Sokka said bitterly. "Why? Katara, we don't have time for any--"  
"Trust me, Sokka. I need to find someone."

"Oh, great--" he slapped his forehead, truly exasperated.

"C'mon, Sokka, maybe..." Aang trailed off, biting his lip, and turned to Katara.

"Who is it?"

"His name is Maanyu, and--"  
"Oh, _NO_..." Sokka's head fell back into his back, and then forward into his chest.

"Please, Katara, _please_, I _beg_ you--"  
"Listen to me, Sokka! I think Maanyu's been to their underground headquarters-- remember the letter we had to give him?"

"He's _that_ kid?" Aang asked.

"Yes--"  
"Hey, is he that one cute waterbender that works in that tea shop?" Kaz said loudly, raising an eyebrow amusingly. Yurgo nudged her in the ribs.

"What?" she said, glaring at him. Surprisingly (for all but Sokka), color touched lightly at Katara's cheeks.

"Well, yes--" she said, throwing back her braid--

"Hhm, well, he... the Dai Li had him come to the lake, Lake Laogai..."

"Yeah!" Sokka said suddenly, "Can't he guide us through the lake? Then we wouldn't have to go in through the courtyard!"  
Katara lifted an eyebrow.

"Wow, Sokka, you're such the genius."  
"Thank you," he said smugly.

"Do you think he'll do it for us?" Aang asked warily.

"Yes, I'm sure," Katara said, cheerful. "He and I are-- well, I mean-- we're on a good level. He'd be more than happy to help us."

She averted her gaze again down towards the city, as if trying to hide her face.

"Well? We going, Sokka?" Aang asked, watching her skeptically.

"We don't even know where he lives," Sokka said.

"I do--" Katara's head rose but then she retreated quicker than before, suddenly very interested in playing with Appa's fur. The bison snorted uncomfortably.

"I walked him home one night, when he came back from the meeting with the Dai Li..." Her voice was barely audible.

"Okay, then, you'll need to watch the city, not Appa's fur, if you want us to get there," Sokka said dryly, rolling his eyes.

She scowled at him, red in the face, and sat close beside him.

"All right, then, I will. Let's go, Aang."  
"We better leave Appa and go on foot," Sokka said quickly, entering his leader mode. "We go in there with Appa, we're a moving target."  
"You're right," Aang said. "Sorry, buddy. Go graze in those trees for a while."

Appa groaned in response, and Aang ruffled the small patch of fur that his fingers could span.

While Aang steered the bison towards the ground, Katara went over the spots she and Maanyu had passed on the way to his apartment. She was suddenly worried that she might have been too focused on him to pay attention to where they were going, and she prayed desperately she wasn't that much of a girl, scraping every inch of her memory. At long last, she had managed enough landmarks that she was sure, if they got to a familiar area, she would be able to go from there and find him.

The idea of seeing Maanyu again struck her in the chest as she was dismounting Appa, and she suddenly felt very excited, regenerated, as if they all the time and luck in the world. This was going to work. They were going to get Jet and Kioki, get out, and be all right.

She recognized this was a way of endangering Maanyu, and felt her gut squirm. He was their last hope-- she tried to look on the bright side.

Leaving Appa and MoMo content about a hundred yards from the outer wall, they made their way like dots on a map towards the city, sticking to areas of trees, trying their best to remain unnoticed. Toph and Tyc were relieved to be back on the earth, and Toph was using it to her full potential. Everyone was silenced in awe when she was able to read the earth all the way to the guards atop the outer wall, reporting when their feet had turned another direction.

"Wow," Tyc breathed. "That's amazing that you can see that!"  
And the smile on Toph's lips was genuine.

"Toph," Sokka whispered, "when we get to the wall, can you and Tyc earthbend us up as quietly as you can?"  
It seemed, if they could see, that Toph and Tyc would have exchanged amused smiles. It was like they did, through the earth.

"We'll do our best," Toph said. Tyc nodded, grinning.

Silent, they somehow managed to get to the wall. Pressed against it's smooth surface, they practically melted into it, trying to remain as invisible as they could from the guards. At one massive corner, Tyc and Toph took their places before it, slowly bringing up earth until altogether it formed a platform upon which they all were scooped. Then, attempting their softest of moves, they directed the platform up the wall. The scraping of earth was loud enough because they were right beside it-- Katara tried to convert the volume to the guards' distance: it mustn't be very loud. They were going to be fine.

As they reached the top, they literally crawled onto the wall, dashing as fast as they could-- with the help of Aang's airbending-- to it's other end.

"Aang, you get us down this time!" Sokka hissed.

For the second time, they found themselves in Aang's air bubble. As she drifted downward towards the city, Katara couldn't help remembering the chains that had snatched them out of the air...

However this time they landed safely, all huddled together when the walls of the air bubble were sucked away, and then could set off again at full-speed into the city.

It seemed endless, so many corners, so many shops and buildings. After twenty minutes of guesswork, Sokka, in his exasperation, had insisted they dare a Locator: because of the recent attack costing the attention of so many Dai Li, a regular Earth Kingdom soldier was stationed at the Locator, and they were able to get definite directions to the stone courtyard where the Dai Li had attacked she and Maanyu. (She thought it wiser to avoid asking for his exact address.) As she expected, it had taken a moment to convince Sokka _that_ courtyard and the one Tyc had _shattered_ were separate.

Half an hour passed, which was spent dodging Earth Kingdom soldiers, sticking to the shadows of the buildings, and making their way to the courtyard from the Locator's directions. Katara bit her lip, thinking it strange to see a chain of kids literally linked together (so as not to get separated), making their way quickly and quietly down the streets, and yet they received very little attention, if none at all. Katara was relieved when she spotted the courtyard, now heavily populated, but recognizable and accurate to the Locator's directions.

"Okay," she whispered to the other's huddled at her back, "from here, we ran down this street..."

"Backwards?" Sokka hissed, incredulous. "What were you guys doing? Playing tag?"

"No," she snarled. "As a matter of fact, we were running from Dai Li! Now _come_ _on_."  
Leaving Sokka aghast, she turned and lead them quickly back in the opposite direction, down the alleyway into which they had escaped. She thought it best to retrace every single step they had taken, recalling the entire night as accurately as she could in her mind. She remembered they had used as many detours as possible-- both had been exhausted and shaken from the battle.

Another half hour passed: the others trailing at her back were somewhat surprised at the random turns she would take, and Sokka was on the verge of a tantrum, but Katara had remembered it now: every single step they had taken. She knew what she was doing. Maanyu's voice began to enter her mind, hope began to warm her heart, lift her spirits... it was going to work, their plan was going to pull through... And they hadn't been seen, or suspected, not by anyone...!

Finally, at least two hours from when she had fallen from Appa, they arrived at the apartment building. They stood there for a moment, panting from their fast pace, wiping sweat from their brows, in a sort of marveling state. Katara sighed, energized, and began towards the building.

"Right. Now all we have to do is find his room."  
"Great," Sokka said. "Really time efficient. Jeez... with all that sneaking around, we might as well have jumped down through the giant hole."  
"We should split up," Aang said, ignoring Sokka's attitude. "Sokka and I, Kaz and Yurgo, Tyc and Toph--"

He realized Katara had no one to go with and halted, fumbling for words--

"I'll go by myself," Katara said confidently. "All right. Let's go."

They broke into groups, all heading different directions, up different staircases. Katara took the one closest to her-- somewhat in the middle of the entire complex: she just hoped this would mean close rooms, easier methods, better time management.

She realized she didn't know exactly how to approach each room, and pinched herself for not bringing it up with the others-- she just hoped they would use the most discreet techniques possible. She took to looking in through the different windows, trying to slip past each one as quickly as she could. She didn't want to make eye contact with any residences-- There was also the prospect that Maanyu wouldn't be there, that he was off working at the tea shop. If so, that would be all right-- they had purposely come to the apartments first, because from there, farther north, was the tea shop in which he worked. It would just be thirty minutes more in the same direction. That, at least, was efficient, she thought bitterly, recalling Sokka.

Five minutes... ten... already she had checked around twenty rooms, and still no sign of Maanyu...

A crash. It sounded like a desk had been upturned, a vase or something atop it meeting the ground in an unfortunate ending. She stood there for a moment, stunned, and slowly began to regain her thoughts. Part of her was curious, intrigued-- but the other didn't want to walk in on a child's temper tantrum, or an angry parents' expressing of emotion. Perhaps if it was an accident, her appearance would be useful.

It had come from farther down the hall, and, forcing herself to be brave, she made her way down towards the room's door--

--which was was blasted off it's hinges, fire licking it's edges, crashing against the other end of the hall.

Katara's heart nearly leapt out of her chest-- she jumped back, catching herself, gaping at the smoldering door. From inside shouts more bell clear than she wished were emitting, the sound of more shattering objects--

"You can't fight forever!"

She gasped.

Maanyu.

"Neither can you!"

She didn't know why-- all she knew was that she was running as fast as she could to the doorway--

"No! Get back!"

Something reached for her, pushing her from the doorway just as a whip of water lashed against the wall, thrown askew by a writhing tongue of fire. Katara regained her balance, staring in shock at the man that had pushed her from it's path--

An old man, familiar, round and stocky. Uttermost desperation was sparkling in his eyes-- he seemed to reach for her as if she were a life line to freedom...

He was dodging a five-foot serpent made entirely of water, looming back on it's tale over his head, hissing as real as any snake would.

But Katara had no time to marvel at it's appearance-- another blast of fire had engulfed a nearby wall, and the force of the blast threw her into the room, onto the old man she knew now to be--

No.

No, it couldn't be...

"Get out of here!" the man yelled, but he was too late. The battle had stopped.

There, lying in the rubble of the scalded wall, Katara stared at Maanyu, frozen over by some furious shock, gaping at her, arms lifted to support a swerving water whip.

She looked past his shoulder, to the one he was dueling--

--and the stinging, golden gaze of Prince Zuko fell on her own once again.

------------

The wind was soft, a gentle tickle under the chin of a child, brushing over the waves and carrying the salty spray of the ocean into Suki's face. Afternoon was on it's way: the sky was bright, brighter than it had ever been, that she had ever seen it... than she ever wanted to see it. The sun's warmth... it was so brilliant, flawless... The world was perfect, just in that moment when she could lay on the sandy beach, remembering the feel of the grass on her feet...

"Suki?"

"Hm?"  
Yushura rolled onto her side, folding up her legs to keep her toes from the churning waves.

"What are we going to do now? The Fire Nation princess should be halfway to Ba Sing Se by now. We have to do something, we're the only ones who know."

Suki sighed, letting the scent of spring give flavor to her evolving plan. She sat up, brushing sand from her hair, Lisyyun and Yushura following suit on either side of her.

"The only thing we can do," Suki said. She kept rising to her feet, beckoning they rise too. She lead them down the beach, farther from the forest, towards the mountains that rimmed the beaches in the distance. She pointed to their peeks, the other two rapt.

"Over those mountains is a pass, that leads south. From there, you know of the ports of ferries that will cross the oceans."

"Yes," Lisyyun said. "But... to what avail?"

Suki smiled, turning back to her companions.

"How do you think the Fire Nation princess plans to win the trust of the Earth King, let alone get into Ba Sing Se at all?"

They were quiet for a moment, and then Yushura, bitter, muttered the answer.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? They disguised themselves as us-- that's why they took our robes. They're going to infiltrate the city."

"No!" Lisyyun said, her fingers curling into fists. "We can't let them!"

"You're right," Suki said calmly, turning back to the mountains. "But tell me... Tracking them down would only be a wild goose chase, and as you said, they're probably half way there already. By the time we would arrive to prove them impostors, they might have already carried out a plan to overthrow the Earth King. They're brilliant, that's true, and their plan will more than possibly work."

She studied their faces, yet her plan did not yet formulate in their eyes.

"So where would we have the stronger hand: tracking them down and trying to break a lie that's already been woven tight? Or thinking as they do, using their strategy and weaving their own lie against them?"

Yushura was the first to show enthusiasm-- her eyes seemed to flash in a secret excitement she worked so hard to control. Seconds later, Lisyyun beamed.

"Oh, Suki... It sounds brilliant, but... How are we going to disguise ourselves exactly as them?"

Suki shook her head. "We don't have to. As long as our image carries power, yes? Power of any kind. Literal, figurative... inventive..."

Yushura grinned, despite the control that strained her voice.

"It'll be dangerous. Very dangerous. But... that's why I love it so much."

"When do we leave for the Fire Nation?" Lisyyun said instantly.

Suki smiled, and looked over the mountains. Their majesty smiled upon her like a promising omen, the guarantee of a new day.

--

------------

THE END

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--

A/N: Well, there it is!! I hope you guys loved it, and are looking forward to the sequel!! Suki and her friends are gonna rock. Oh, and remember when Zuko has the visions about Katara and she says "I know you've changed" ? Yeah, that's the reference when they say Katara said that before falling off Appa. That line will gain in significance as the sequel progresses. And i'll apologize for that M-A-J-O-R Zutara cliffie, but hey, that's what sequels are for. STAY TUNED!! Thanx sooooooo much for reading!! Reviews make this author's day!!! -


	30. Preface

Preface for _Fire Oasis_

_---_

by Jeccelo

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**A/N**: here's a preface for 'Fire Oasis', sequel to Moist Candles.

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Preface

A moment frozen in time. They looked down at their own faces, cold, white in shock and disdain. He watched their reactions from the shadows, smirking to himself. If only there was more time of this to be cherished-- how pleasing it was to have swept them from the world that way.

_Now don't be too vague, Face-Stealer._

_Humor me, Moon. You must learn to trust my judgment._

The girl-- Katara... Yes, she was a delightful specimen. Placing her hands on the invisible wall separating her from her body, staring down at her fallen self in such perfect confusion, wondering why she was not moving, why she had not lifted herself from the rubble... (no doubt to place accusation against the Fire Nation Prince.)

Zuko. Another morsel of anticipation, yet Koh predicted a more stubborn taste about this one. But no matter-- he enjoyed a little rebellion now and again. Too many people submitted to him quickly out of fear or want for mercy... it made life slightly boring, seeing as his was stretched forever over the eternities.

And the third... yes, Maanyu. Such talent harbored inside such a narrowed mind... a pity, really. The boy had more might than he knew-- if only he could harness such power. Imagine what leverage! But that, too, did not bother the Face-Stealer. He knew all too well: in time, all would come forth as it had been destined to.

The firebender had exceptional power as well, more so, perhaps, than Maanyu. No doubt it was their hidden strengths that drew the two boys together in the Clash.

_Now, Koh, do not tempt facts that are stilled blurry before you. _

_Please, Moon, not now... I know perfectly well what drew them together. I am simply... expanding the facts, rather than tempting them._

_Even so... you have volunteered for guidance and guardianship over the trio: no more._

_Ah, Moon... Were it not for the laws that bound my powers, _your_ delicate face would be top-shelf in my favorites._

Oh, good, the shadow was beginning to disperse. Soon, he could show himself to them. But first... yes, the test. How marvelous. What knew secrets would be uncovered there!

"Welcome, young bonded."

The girl quivers at his voice... Splendid. It will only be a matter of time before she will finally be taught to know the darkness before it brushes her arm. Oh, look... she and the Maanyu kept their distance from the firebender... Enemies in such a connection as theirs? How _marvelous_!

"Who are you?" she asked, calling into the abyss in which he sat. He only chuckled deep in his throat, and he could see the sound register in her ears-- ah, sweet fear. If only he was not restrained...

"Why, I'm your new Guardian, of course."

"Show us," Maanyu called boldly.

Oh, my... it seems the firebender's attitude has rubbed off on the waterbender's as well.

Excellent.

"You may see me," the Face-Stealer began, "when you have earned me. Until now, I will remain as shadowy as you see me now."  
"We see nothing," the firebender growled.

Yes, Zuko would be a tantalizing treat. All that emotion... such a waste, such a dreadful waste!

_Moon, do be reasonable, will really just one of their faces hurt their destinies so?_

_Not another word, Koh. _

_Oh, all right... But I must be warranted a grand feast of emotion when all this is through._

_Very well. But animals only._

_Animals! How stoic and tasteless!_

_Please, Koh, let's focus on our duties at the present time, shall we?_

_Yes, I suppose you're right..._

"Please," Katara said, and despite her words, her tone was confident... " what's happened?"

He sighed, slowly slinking to a more comfortable position.

"Oh, all right... Tell me, young boned... what do you see?"

Silence reigned, and then Zuko spoke.

"I see myself. Frozen, as if time has stopped."

He nodded, though they could not see him.

"And from where do you see this?"  
This time the silence prolonged, and he waited patiently in the darkness at their backs.

"It looks like..." Katara's head swiveled slowly to study her surroundings...

"It looks like a block of ice, suspended above... ourselves."

He chuckled, and felt their tension unleash as aromas that taunted him...

_Ah, indeed, the finest waste of my time..._

"It looks so, doesn't it?"

Suddenly Zuko spoke.

"Does this have something to do with... the Clash?"

"The what?" Katara and Maanyu spoke simultaneously, staring at him yet unable to make an offensive move.

"Oh, I see..." Koh chuckled again deep in his belly, slithering about. Fear flickered over their eyes as they saw his sillouhette mesh with the darkness, the darkness that extended forever, like ink spilt, forever spreading and dissolving, the chemistry irreversible.

"Ignorance!" Koh said at once, and they jumped.

"Ignorance is one thing I plan not to tolerate."

"The Clash?" Maanyu asked. "You mean... is that what Yue was talking about? A connection?"

"Ah, so you've remembered," Koh whispered. "The Dai Li's hold on you has been abolished-- splendid. Things will go much more smoothly..."

"Yue?" Katara was staring at Maanyu now. "Princess Yue?"  
Maanyu's gaze was cold in return.

"My cousin," he said, and his voice brimmed with despair. He turned desperately to the shadows, and he did not know it, but he stared straight into Koh's drooped eyes.

"And she's dead! She's a spirit now-- If you are a spirit, show her to me!"

"Patience," Koh said softly. "There is still ignorance in my midst-- such so that pains me."

"Where is she?" Maanyu's eyes sparkled-- he closed them, collecting his head in his hands.

"Where is she..."

"Grief," Koh mused, leaned forward slightly from the shadows... "A second best next to shock, to fear... Yes, when fear escapes my clutches, I relish a taste of grief..."

_Face-Stealer! You will refrain immediately!_

Maanyu's head snapped up--

"Yue?"  
_Maanyu... Please, you must learn to trust Koh. You must learn to let me go._

"But how can I?" he sobbed. "I... You were all I..."

And suddenly he was choked off, as if a horrible, cold grip had just stopped his tongue.

_No, Maanyu, _her voice said again, and the sadness in her tone rivaled her cousin's. _I wasn't everything to you._

"You were..." Tears ran down Maanyu's cheeks-- he doubled over, clutching his head.

"You were..."

_You know I wasn't, _she whispered, and it sounded as if she wept with him. _Maanyu... Because of the darkness you chose, it has forged this bond you now hold with Zuko. Please try to understand... Your decisions could result in the better._

"Don't..." He stood up instantly and cried--

"Don't remind me of that!"

_Moon_, Koh said softly, _perhaps it is best you return to the Spirit World. We cannot delay._  
_You're right... Good bye, Maanyu. I'll see you again._

Maanyu didn't respond, he only lowered himself to his knees. Katara moved to his side, placing careful fingers on his shoulder...

Koh sighed as Moon's presence dispersed.

"Now... we be rid of the ignorance once and for all."  
He stretched up in the darkness, a great black sillouhette rising before them, all but concealed in the mists about him.

"The Clash. It is a temporary bonding of two benders, both of the opposite element. Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, you are a child of fire."  
At this, Zuko's eyes narrowed-- Maanyu stared at him, shock growing across his stricken face. Katara only glared, suddenly reminded of who stood beside her.

"Prince Maanyu of the Northern Water Tribe, you are a child of water."

Maanyu shuddered-- Katara squeezed his shoulder, still glaring at Zuko. Zuko kept his eyes down, away from anyone.

"And Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, you are a child of water."

She turned to look at the darkness, and it seemed she saw his white face, the ruby lips pulled back in a mellow smile, eyes drooped in a tired amusement...

"Princes Zuko and Maanyu have been joined in the bonds of a Clash, bound to one destiny, one soul purpose. Until they fulfill that destiny as a single unit, they will remain bound, even past death."

"How did this happen?" Katara asked.

"Koh's eyes sauntered to Zuko, whom he saw swallow.

"Our Fire Nation Prince knows, do you not, Zuko?"  
Zuko dared a glance in the darkness-- he studied the Face Stealer's twisting figure and then spoke in a low, rough voice.

"I thought it was... _her_ I was bound to."

He indicated Katara. Confusion in her eyes... ignorance... it churned in the Face-Stealer's stomach, and he quivered again.

"And there is reason for it as well," he said in his discomfort, slowing sinking back into a state of content.

"I see you have humbled to accept the facts of this bond," he observed with a smile.

Zuko's eyes flashed.

"I've seen the bond."

"Have you!" the Face-Stealer chortled, stretching back his massive neck.

"Do tell what you have seen."  
"A trail of fire," Zuko replied quietly. "It lead me to her."  
Once again he indicated Katara, who immediately turned to the shadow, objection plastered across her features.

"What? No! What is this? Why has this happened?"

But Koh spoke to Zuko.  
"The trail," he said patiently, "lead you to Maanyu."  
Zuko's eyes narrowed, and all the knowledge he had not attained crossed over them in one moment... yet a question remained.

"She was there with him..." his face lowered.

"Assumption," Koh drawled. "Look what it can cloud from our understanding!"  
"But I wasn't assuming!" Zuko retorted. "When I saw her... I knew it was her! I..."

"You felt a connection to her," Koh said, nodding. "And that can be explained as well. You are connected to Maanyu by the powers of the Clash-- by result, the two of you share a single destiny. That destiny... is Katara."  
All eyes turned to her-- Zuko in disbelief, Maanyu is amazement... Katara only shook her head, blinking.

"I... I had no knowledge of this. I've never--"

"You have never experienced a sense of connection to either of them," Koh answered for her. "A spiritual connection, to be exact. That is because none exists-- You have no duty to them, well, not by the laws of the _earth_, anyway. It is _they_ who have purpose to you, who are bound to _you_. Your protection."  
"Wait--" Zuko closed his eyes. "I don't understand. How have Maanyu and I been bonded in the first place?"  
"As any Two Clashed have been since the beginning of time," Koh responded, a strange shrug moving about his neck.

"You have each been presented with similar, if not identical, situations. Both required a choice on your part-- you both took the same path. Thus, you were combined in physical power and in spiritual destiny. You two have now a single path before you."  
It began to register, slowly, like a draft of cold breeze or the lighting of a candle...

"Many duties lay ahead, some of which you will wish to resist.," Koh continued. "Already you have indented marks of decision in the future... If you would rather hear it this way, I would tell you the path the Clash has for you is not a choice. Protect Katara of the Southern Watertribe with your lives, and in due time, all could see peace in the very palm of their hands..."

He slithered about the darkness as he spoke, a shape without features...

"Are you saying... my life is in danger?" Katara asked smally. There was a glimmer of fear in her voice-- yet it was nigh swallowed up by the courage that garnished it.

"The smallest of moments, mere seconds in a century, can make all the difference in the changing of a heart," was the Face-Stealer's only reply. "They can mean life... they can mean death. Success, failure... Love, betrayal..."

And he melted back into the shadows as if leaving... So many questions... yet they were left, abandoned in the air-- it was like they were never meant to be asked. But one did...

"Wait!" Zuko exclaimed, and the shape hesitated.

"What brought the Clash upon us?" he demanded. "What did Maanyu and I do to combine our powers?"

Another low chuckle-- it was the pleasure of a demon, a wicked and cold satisfaction.

"I feel your Clashed can answer that."  
And his shadow moved again, leaving Zuko's gaze to travel to Maanyu... the young man was hunkered over his knees as before, untouched, staring, perhaps, in horror?

_Horror... my favorite._

But Koh shivered in control, and backed deeper into the darkness...

"Wait!"  
Katara's hand leapt forward, seeing his departure.

"Don't leave. What happens now? How can we get back to our bodies?"  
The question sounded childish and it seemed she blushed-- however, it was one needed answering. The reason passed with Koh, but he only smiled the same mellow, tired smile.

"Why, my dear, I have never left, nor will I until your protectors have fulfilled the oaths they owe to you. As for time... do you truly wish to be reunited with such a burden...? Well... I suppose all things must continue. Your Prince Zuko will escort you all back to the physical world."  
And with that, the Prince fainted, and all went black.

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The Face-Stealer turned to the baboon at his right, suddenly standing amidst a vast, orange swamp.

_Now see, Pathik, that was handled well... You don't give me far enough credit for the things I do right... in your view, anyway..._

The baboon shrugged, opening one eye to glance at his companion then closing it, resting back in meditation.

_Id was acceptable. Bu'd don't let it get to your head._

_If I had an appendage that passed so, I wouldn't. _

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Zuko fell directly through what would have been ground, the bottom of an ice cube, if it had not disappeared the minute the Prince's eyes had fallen shut... While he fell into the blackness below, into the world where their bodies stood frozen, Katara and Maanyu did not-- they remained standing, in a blank abyss, while everything vanished around them.

"Come on!" Katara seized Maanyu's shoulder, pulling him up, leading him quickly to the place where Zuko had fallen...

They fell. Katara gasped but had not the strength nor the sufficient fear to scream. She watched colors shift about her, simple grays and whites and blacks all churning together like tendrils of wind...

Until at last her eyes were opened, and light was beating against her--

Shapes formed. Maanyu stood above her, arms positioned as she remembered, every stance as they had left it... Memory of the battle swirled back inside her, not a moment too soon, as Maanyu collapsed to his knees, catching himself on his knuckles...

"Maanyu?"  
The old man shifted in the corner-- Katara knew him now. Iroh. He reached out a hand to the waterbender, but Maanyu waved him off...

"Zuko--"

Iroh heeded his words, turning to his nephew, who, as if on cue, crumbled to the floor in a lifeless heap.

"Zuko!"  
The old man leapt to his feet faster than Katara thought possible, scrambling over the rubble of the room to Zuko's side. Katara spoke to her muscles, demanding they move, hoisting herself up from her elbows... She crawled to Maanyu's side, finding her own strength waning a bit, grasping his shoulder as both support for his sake and for her own-- she swayed as if drowsy.

"Maanyu? Are you okay?"  
His nod was weak, but it's message rang through. Even then, Katara could feel her strength returning. She climbed to her feet, guiltily using Maanyu's shoulder as a support, and as soon as she could balance herself, released all pressure against him and instead worked at pulling him up with her. He nearly collapsed at one point, but they both managed to stand on their own when it was done-- Immediately, they looked at Iroh.

He was bent over his nephew, who was curled tight at his chest like an infant, motionless. Grasping Maanyu's arm to help him coordinate, Katara lead them together to their companions... their enemies...

Their allies, now. Whether they liked it or not.

"Zuko..." Iroh was panting over his nephew's face, caressing it, trying to find a sign of life. Katara looked down at the Prince's features, stoic and closed as if asleep...

It was the right side of his face. The side without the scar.

Somehow, he became a different person. Suddenly, she had never known him before. He was just... a boy. Not a prince, not an enemy, just a regular boy. Like Sokka, or Jet. Regular people with no glorified destiny like a royal or the Avatar... simply heroic or villainous in their own ways, burning legends wherever they walked just by the small acts of their heart.

But then Iroh spoke his name again, and Katara knew.

Zuko had no heart. Who was she to think he could change? After all he had done to them?

She felt sickened and traitorous allying with him. She couldn't trust him, not when Aang's success was on the line. Who was she, compared to the Avatar's mission? Why did she need all this protection?

Why would _Zuko_ give his life to protect _her_?

"He's alive," Iroh panted, fingers pressed in Zuko's neck, "but... he has an intense fever. I think... he probably won't wake until nightfall."

He looked up at the other two, and all progress was halted for a moment.

"I never wanted to attack him," Maanyu said instantly, weakly still. "But if I tried to explain it to you, I don't think you would believe me. You have to trust me, if you want to help Zuko."

Iroh nodded.

"I know the value of trust, and what can become of it-- if it is used wisely."

He bent back over his nephew, stroking long, rugged bangs from his brow.

"I don't know if this place is safe... People will have noticed the battle, they would have called officials--"

"We can find Aang," Katara blurted before she could stop herself. It was in her nature to help-- Zuko was helpless, Iroh was helpless. They meant them no harm.

And on top of it all, it was the right thing to do.

Crazy, yes, but right.

"We'll find Aang and... maybe we can get him somewhere safe..." But despair creeped about her. They were banished. Where would they go, without being spotted?  
"Where are you staying?" Iroh asked.

"In the Upper Ring," Katara said hesitantly. "But it would take hours to get there by foot, not to mention carrying Zuko with us. We'd never go unnoticed."

Silence reigned-- there was no plan, no place to escape...

"It's our only chance," Iroh said finally.

"Wait!" Katara held up her hands, turning to Maanyu.

"What about Lake Laogai?"  
"We can't," Maanyu said instantly, as if he had read her thoughts. "If we run into Dai Li, we wouldn't be able to fight them off-- not with Zuko."

"You're right..." Katara sighed, watching Iroh lift his nephew into sitting position.

"I'll carry him," Maanyu offered, stepping forward.

"But you don't have much strength!" Katara protested.

"I have enough..."  
Iroh and Maanyu worked together to secure Zuko over Maanyu's shoulders. As they did, Katara moved quickly to the door, checking the halls.

"No one's coming yet," she said. "I'm going to find Aang. Wait for us here-- you'll need the cover."

And she set off down the hallway, not knowing why she ran, why she hurried for Zuko...

He deserves less.

She knew it was wrong to feel like that, but she could not help it-- And yet, justice wasn't a factor in her life anymore, not since Aang had joined it. They had saved Zuko's life many times... it was all mercy now, all just repetitive forgiveness.

She wondered when it would end, and prayed it would be soon. Her pride was too strong-- how she labored to overcome it, yet how it effortlessly overpowered her attempts.

She broke from the building into the fresh air at the bar of a balcony-- glancing about--

She saw them. Kaz and Yurgo were making their way quickly through the shadows below her, whispering frantically to eachother.

"Kaz!" Katara called as loudly as she dared. "Yurgo!"  
They were startled for a moment, then turned up to see her--

"Did you find Maanyu?" Kaz called back, she too risking volume.

"Yes-- but you have to get Aang and the others, quickly! Plans have changed-- we have to get back to the Upper Ring!"

"What?" Yurgo gasped, face wrinkled in confusion, but Kaz grabbed the scruff of his shirt and pulled him along without question. Katara thanked her eternally for it and set off back to the room where Maanyu and Iroh waited with Zuko.

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The Face-Stealer sat quietly, observing from an unseen world the steps of the children, their hurried paths... They kept to the shadows of the city, yet with every corner they turned, there was a dozen or so heads, all staring after them in confusion... Would they make it to the Upper Ring without colliding with danger first? Would Zuko survive the run? It was magnificently risky.

The baboon at his left lifted a questionable eyebrow, staring as if chidingly at Koh's amusement...

_Dey will be seen, and captured. Dere is no vay dey will make it back widout de help of de spirits._

Koh only smiled.

_Is that so, my friend?_

_You were not half as heartless when de Avatah came requesting help of de Moon and de Ocean._

_Now, come, monkey, you know I plan well enough to interfere when I am needed. I am the Guardian of the Clashed, am I not?_

_Somet'ing I greatly advised Miss Moon against, I can assure you._

Koh chuckled low in his belly. _Stop fretting, Pathik, and watch me work._

And he extended a skeletal claw, the arm of an insect, out towards their world...

_As long as my will is extended towards them, they will be unseen. Erm-- the Clashed ones, that is._

_So de two boys._

_Well, and the girl too. I figure since she's a third end to the triangle, why not?_

_You certainly have far too much fun wid serious mattahs._

_An obsession, Pathik, truly..._

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He was a quiet man, and took little notice of the vain and unnatural things of the world. He did not care for gossip or tale, but was content focusing simply on his solitary task: a carrier to the ferry ports. It was a task that suited him well: he shifted his pipe to one side of his lips to allow a smirk on the other. For years, it had been the only heckle of his life, and with his growing age, he felt it best to remain that way. Just behind him, great mountains loomed as a backdrop to his solitude: when not transporting villagers to the island towns at the mouth of the ocean, he was resting in the flax, enjoying no company at all, making easy detour with every twist in his thoughts. Not a concern in the world, not a fancy too bold. In all other sense, the perfect way to live.

Could such peace be disrupted? Hm. It was hard to imagine. Yet time had it's tricks, and the war itself spanned this ocean like a warm-up battlefield... At least once a week, a villager or two would take worry of ambush while crossing the ocean, and he would have to endure the task of settling them: it wasn't horrible, it only brought adjustment. He could bend to serious buisness if need be. Only three days ago, rumors of a Fire Nation-related disturbance had set the ports in a frenzy-- he had been the one to remain relatively calm, working to hush the whole matter up by simply pretending it hadn't happened. Yet incidents like that usually carried on in his heart, and there were moments where even the flawless spring mornings were interrupted by dark thoughts fleeting and forbidding.

He wrinkled his nose up at the sky, shifting his pipe yet again. Clouds were gathering-- rain? Again? Such strange weather lately...

"Beiji! Beiji!"

His name rang out as a slice through the silent air-- he twisted in shock to see one of his companions sprinting through the tall grass, arms flailing as if in warning. Hmph. He was a young man-- always worrying, always suspecting. Beiji hadn't ever taken much care in him: he had learned the boy's tales could be a bit twisted at times, exaggerated to attract attention or concern. He was a paranoid lad, always fussing over a garlic that was dropped in the soups, or a spice thrown across the daily noodles... Beiji could only guess what the "trouble" was now.

"Villagers, Beiji!" the young man panted, growing nearer. "They come, even now! They're comin' to hitch one to the ferry ports, they are!"

"All right, all right, relax..." Beiji lifted to his feet, stretching out his back, letting vertebrae crack down his spine.

"They're coming, sir! From the mountainside!"

"Calm down, son..."

"Sir-- they startle me!"

"Eh? Well, just-- get back to your post and you can let me handle it, okay?"

"No, sir, it's-- they're--"

"Go on, boy, get going. There's bound to be more: make sure everyone's ready."

"Yessir-- but--"  
"How many are there now?"  
"Just three, sir--"

"Good, then I'll take them all."

"If you wish, sir... though I'd be careful if I were you."

"I'd be _settled_ if I were you," Beiji said, turning the man's shoulder. "Now be off."

"Yessir-- They'll be perhaps an hour longer--"

The youth set off again, clearly in reluctance, but he was gone nonetheless. Beiji sighed to himself in a kindly exasperation and began his treck out over his boat. For perhaps forty-five minutes he familiarized himself with the water, letting it lap at his ankles. He refreshed the ride to the ferries in his mind, went over all the safety precautions, then bent to take a pick at the mooring rope. As he did, the sounds of anxious voices seemed to waft down from the hills.

_By grumble, is that fool making this a huge hit, or what?_

Beiji sighed to himself, working the knots of the rope holding the boat in place by a wooden post.

"Calm down, gentlemen," he called without turning. "It be only customers, no need to fret..."  
Minutes passed. He did not fully untie the boat, for that would only result in it taking the current to it's own pleasure and sailing solo into the sea. But there was time to spare, and he was settled of heart, so he sat back down in the flax and lowered his hat over his brow, letting the shade mingle about his features. Crossing his legs, closing his eyes, he waited patiently for the villagers to arrive.

There were hurried steps, hurried breaths, and he awoke with a grumble.

"Th-They're here, sir--" stuttered the young worker, and Beiji grunted as he lifted himself from the grass, tilting his hat upward to get a good look at his customers...

It was not as he expected. Not at all. Had all the bustle been for good reason? If so, Beiji would push the issue no further, for the three women who stood before him were like nothing he had ever seen.

Delicately they stood, eyes drooped, golden fans shielding the remainder of their faces. They were robed in the finest of crimson silk, woven beautifully about their slender, twisting figures. The robes hung about their arms in revolving folds, like a great unfurling of secret pockets and hidden sleeves. They were bejeweled identically, all in golden and sapphire, rare beauties sold only on the ocean rim, crafted from the shells... Each sported peculiar markings across the forehead, ancient symbols long forgotten, an alphabet of the past. They bowed elegantly, chestnut hair slipping about their shoulders and faces: The lead... her hair was shorter, adorned with braids woven intricately through scarlet ribbon. Atop their graceful heads sat golden headdresses strung with beads. They were a picture of crafts, a magical visitation.

Beiji swallowed a regular greeting-- they seemed far too superior, far too mystical, for such a greeting. But in the end, it was about all he could think to say.

"Misses?" he managed. "Welcome to our humble escort. How may we assist you?"  
The lead threw her head back, her wrist soaring to her brow, volumes of golden bracelets all chiming together. A dramatic sigh escaped her unseen lips, and as she batted her fan, she revealed a translucent, scarlet veil about the bridge of her nose, hiding all but her eyes.

"Do assist us, kind sailor, for we are weary of travel, and must make it as quickly as we can to the nearest port. The great nation of fire awaits us!"  
"Y-Yes, right away--" Beiji blinked, turning quickly to his rowboat. "May I ask-- what purpose serve ye?"

Another dramatic sigh escaped her lips, and she swayed as if faint.

"What other purpose, than to foretell only the mysterious and classified events of the future!"

"Foretell the future?" the youth breathed. He stood a respectable--fearful?-- distance from the women, jaw slack, eyes wide in awe.

The lead flashed him an amused glance with stunning, heavily painted eyes.

"Do you take interest in our profession?" she asked, a hint of mischief in her silky voice.

The youth gulped-- Beiji sighed. But the woman ignored him.

"Step forward, child-- let me see your hand."  
Beiji rolled his eyes, sighing again in skepticism, but there was a part of him that tugged his attention, and he watched despite his disapproval.

It was also strange, how she had referred to him as 'child', when she herself looked nor sounded any older than he, perhaps younger.

Her lovely eyes fell down to his extended palm-- she took it gently in her hands, then one flew again dramatically, her wrist cradled her forehead as she leaned back, eyes falling shut.

"Oh, child! Such promise, I see, such opportunity! Yet there is something else... something else clouds these paths..."

"Try 'paranoia'," Beiji grumbled.

"What?" the youth asked anxiously. "What is it?"

"Ah, that is for you to discover, child!" she said brilliantly, waving her bejeweled hands over her head.

"Where exactly are you misses from?" Beiji asked politely.

They all turned in simultaneous mischief towards him.

"We are from lands long untold of," the lead said, slinking towards him with her two comrades.

"From the sea, we come! And to the sea, we wish to go. The nation of fire awaits!"

"Of course," Beiji said slowly, studying them, then hunkering back down to the boat.

"After you, misses," he said, bowing.

They sauntered idly forward, batting fans again close to their faces, propping bejeweled wrists off in his direction. Beiji watched them with a mixture of wariness and awe- gypsies, oracles, here at his mooring? It was more than he expected from an all-too-natural day.

"How far to the nearest port, kind sailor?" the lead asked as she dipped down between her two fellows, her skirts folding lusciously about her knees.

"No longer than an hour, miss," Beiji assured her routinely, stepping into what space was left in the boat, careful to avoid standing on any crimson fabric.

"With haste, then!" she breathed, sighing behind her fan. "Ill fortune awaits those who linger unlearned on the waters!"  
"I assure you, miss," Beiji said, slightly irritated, "I am perfectly familiar with the ocean-- tis my home, miss."

She closed her eyes in a considerate nod.

"I knew it, kind sailor-- I was only testing your own resolve."  
Beiji met her eyes, stared straight into their depth, and instantly regretted it-- such intensity fueled them that he had to avert his gaze with a gulp, focusing it instead on the fluttering waves as they pushed from the beach. He looked back at the youth, who was, without failure, waiting dumfoundedly in the flax up from the sand.

"Wait, hold, sailor!" the woman burst suddenly-- Beiji dug his oar into the sand instantly, pulling the boat frantically to a halt. She leapt to her feet, hands outstretched to the youth's stricken face.

"Child!" she breathed, eyes wide, "danger has crossed these shores! Be wary! A village lays in waste, the islands have been polluted with a discreet darkness! Do not doubt your own strength, for it may speedily be required of you!"  
Silence reigned, and the youth could only nod, looking as if he had seen the Fire Lord himself.

The woman's eyes smiled, content, and she sank quickly back down into the boat. Beiji watched, almost as awestruck as the youth, just in a slightly more negative sense. He stared perhaps in rising horror at the woman's blistering eyes, until she turned them up towards him, a sharp guesture of command.

"Well, sailor? Are you indeed learned of the waters?"

He blinked, slapping his mouth shut, and absently forced the boat back into motion.

They drifted over the waves, as casually as any trip he had made, yet it seemed even the skies peered down in amazement at his peculiar cargo.

Beiji wished his quiet days farewell.

----------

Katara felt a breeze pick about her ankles-- she tried not to feel startled, glancing back over her shoulder at Iroh and Maanyu, who was managing well the burden of Zuko. Sokka, Aang, and the others followed quickly behind. Their smaller figures made the stealth easier-- it was for Iroh that Katara feared the most. But he seemed an active enough man-- he _was_ the Fire Lord's brother, after all.

She guided them on through the shadows of the streets. Around her, the heat of the afternoon was alive in the smells of markets, the voices of hundreds of villagers all meshed in one rhythm of... distraction. Katara held her breath, trying to focus every nerve of her attention on their path, their need for shelter. She ran over again in her mind why they were even considering Aang's residence: anywhere else in the city would be far too risky. If someone walked in on them, who knows what kind of explanation they'd have to cook up? And the Dai Li were all spent from the battle that very morning-- most were still unconscious in the underground tunnels. Katara tried not to think of the one who had approached maimed and bloodied horrifically.

On through the shadows they went, and she could feel the unnatural, out-of-place breeze spiral along her legs still. She tried to focus her attention again, yet it was always there, like a nagging opinion.

"Is that you?" she whispered to the air. She did not have fully an idea what she was doing-- she could only assume. But the breeze was too out of the ordinary to simply be a notch in the weather.

_Stay focused on your path, _their guardian's drawling, cold voice said. _I will conceal you. Haste, Katara, haste!_

She nodded to the invisible, and motioned they quicken their pace.

"We're getting closer to the Upper Ring. Keep going!"

They scurried on-- she didn't know how Maanyu was moving so fast with Zuko slung across his shoulders like buckets of water.

An hour later--or perhaps several mellenia had passed-- they rose over the hill, gasping in exhaustion, to see the neatly crafted apartment just seconds before them-- Katara waved then forward enthusiastically, trying to maintain her own fatigue, and they set quickly after her up the front steps of the apartment, bursting through the door and literally collapsing onto the front carpet.

Zuko fell straight from Maanyu's shoulders-- it was inevitable. Maanyu was on his knees, head hung between his heaving shoulders... Kaz and Yurgo ran straight to the nearest cushioned area, while Tyc and Toph tumbled where they stood. Aang and Sokka staggered for a while, clutching their knees, until they too fell with groans onto the carpet. While Katara and Iroh panted over the floor, Maanyu worked to use what energy he had left to roll Zuko over onto his back.

"Let me... let me see him..." Iroh gasped, crawling forward. Katara followed him weakly, coming to kneel beside Maanyu.

"Katara--" Iroh turned to her desperately, still trying to catch his breath, "can you... try healing him...? Any method... of healing..."  
"I can... try one," Katara responded halfheartedly, and moved to Zuko's other side, watching his pale, closed face contort in some dream.

"Look--" Maanyu panted, indicating his face. "Did you seen that?"  
"Yes," Iroh breathed. "He's coming around."

"Or just still in some kind of coma," Katara threw out pessimistically, bringing the water in glowing mittens to her hands. Carefully she lowered them to Zuko's brow, pressing her fingertips into his temples, trying to send messages of revival into his mind.

But he didn't stir more than he had the moment before.

She sighed after a moment passed, her arms falling back.

"I can't do much-- I don't think this is in my hands."  
"It isn't," Iroh said inevitably. "Nor is it in any of ours. But thank you, Katara."  
He slipped his porky hands underneath Zuko's lithe figure, scooping him ungracefully into his arms and lifting him from the ground to move him to a more suitable area. Katara rose to her feet next to Maanyu, and they followed Iroh side-by-side as he carried Zuko's sleeping body to the far halls.

Katara jumped ahead to open the door, and Iroh nodded in thanks. They entered a small, unlit room, with a single bed at the far corner. Iroh crossed the carpet quickly, lying Zuko down on the mattress and securing blankets over his limp legs.

"I'll watch over him," Katara said solemnly. She assumed it a sort of duty-- the women in her tribe would proudly watch over the wounded men who returned from battle. Her mother had once stood watch over Hakoda, and that had been the birth of what resulted in their marriage. It was a proud tradition, and Katara was honored to carry it on, no matter who the patient.

Iroh seemed to understand. He nodded appreciatively and placed a loving hand on her shoulder.

"He will be safe, then," he said quietly, and turned to exit the room.

As he did, Maanyu swept across the room to light candles with provided fuel, watching Katara as she lowered herself somewhat hesitantly onto the end of Zuko's bed.

"Do you need some water?" he asked her tenderly.

"Yes, please," she breathed, massaging her throat. "You all get some."  
"I don't think we'll need telling twice," he said with a tired smile, which she returned with gratitude.

"Promise me you will rest," she said to him as he backed towards the door.

He chuckled, caressing a shoulder thickly and wincing.

"I may need to."

He gave her one last smile of concern, and then left the room.

Katara looked down at Zuko's scar and felt suddenly very alone, just she and her nightmares.


End file.
